Sustaining Programs and Research Through Strong Practitioner-Scientist Collaboration: Lessons from the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance Using a Nominal Group Technique

BACKGROUND : Dissemination and Implementation Science and practice requires that dedicated time and effort be invested in ensuring the effective application of proven evidence-based interventions for disease prevention, treatment and public health, by putting the best research evidence into practice. However, the slow pace of translating research into practice continues to be a significant problem. This study sought to explore stakeholders' perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of collaboration between implementation practitioners and implementation scientists. METHODS : A Nominal Group Technique was conducted in two major sessions of the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance conference in two 30-min phases followed by a 30-minute plenary session, giving a total of 90 minutes. We first conducted group brainstorming to encourage contributions from all participants. Next, participants worked together to come to agreement on the relative importance of issues, problems, or solutions to improving implementation in low resourced settings. RESULTS : More than half of the participants were male (67.3%) and worked as program staff (60.2%), with 36.1% having 5 to 10 years work experience. Six key themes were identified pertaining to opportunities and challenges facing practitioner-scientist collaboration. The most highly ranked opportunities for practitioner-scientist collaboration included capacity-building, improved research infrastructure and establishment/enhancement of culture of collaboration. CONCLUSION : The most highly ranked challenges to practitioner-scientist collaboration included lack of the culture of collaboration, knowledge gaps and research infrastructural deficits. Therefore, exploring the enhancement of mutual learning, knowledge integration, sustainable collaboration culture and a roadmap for future endeavours in improving collaboration between implementation science practitioners and scientists remains a priority. Addressing the highlighted opportunities and challenges can contribute to a more robust and effective landscape for implementation science endeavours in Nigeria. Such collaborations hold promise to improve the implementation and sustainment of evidence-based health intervention and ultimately improved health.