The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research: a reflection on researchers’ experiences of its benefits and challenges and the lessons learnt from using it
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research: a reflection on researchers’ experiences of its benefits and challenges and the lessons learnt from using it

Annelysse Jorgenson PhD candidate, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland
Reginaldo Adalberto Luz Instructor, professor, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Luize Fábrega Juskevicius PhD candidate, Universidade de São Paulo Escola de Enfermagem, São Paulo, Brazil
Maria Clara Padoveze Associate professor of nursing, Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem, São Paulo, Brazil
Lesley Price Professor of nursing, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

Why you should read this article:
  • To gain insight into the using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) in different contexts and during different phases of research

  • To understand the benefits and anticipate potential challenges that you could face when using the CFIR in nursing and public health studies

  • To understand possible resolutions to challenges and other lessons learnt from previous use to optimise the application of the CFIR in future research

Background In healthcare implementation research, there is little discussion of researchers’ experiences of using frameworks, including the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

Aim To identify and discuss the benefits and challenges encountered and the lessons learnt from researchers’ experiences of using the CFIR in different contexts and phases of research.

Discussion This article synthesises the reflections of nursing and public health researchers on their experiences of using the CFIR across four separate healthcare-associated infection prevention and control implementation studies. The CFIR’s benefits and challenges, the resolutions to these challenges and the lessons learnt from the application of the framework were discussed.

Conclusions Identified benefits included the framework’s adaptability and flexibility, and its provision of structure and shared language for research. Translation to another language and differentiating between domains and constructs were challenges.

Implications for practice Nurse researchers may find this article useful when considering use of the CFIR, or to anticipate and prepare to overcome the challenges highlighted when using the framework.

Nurse Researcher. doi: 10.7748/nr.2022.e1827

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

l.price@gcu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. The authors received no financial support for the authorship or publication of this article

Jorgenson A, Luz RA, Juskevicius LF, Padoveze MC, Price L (2022) The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research: a reflection on researchers’ experiences of its benefits and challenges and the lessons learnt from using it. Nurse Researcher. doi: 10.7748/nr.2022.e1827

Acknowledgements

Research study three was financed in part by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel – Brazil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001

Published online: 03 March 2022

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