Harnessing Evidence-Based Medicine through Dissemination and Implementation Science: A Conversation with Dr. Shawna Ehlers

Kara P. Wiseman, MPH, PhD; Jennifer A. Emond, MS, PhD; Lauren Bohlen, PhD; Alyssa Button, PhD - Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine SIG

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research is the science of translating programs, interventions, and treatments with proven efficacy into practice in the real-world. D&I researchers within behavioral medicine must often consider theories of behavior change within the context of D&I models, and frameworks. Challenges with implementation can vary dramatically based on organizational and population/patient characteristics; culture, environment, and stakeholder experience of a specific setting. A hospital system, for example, is vastly different than a school. Thus, D&I researchers often consider tailored, systems-based approaches to translation.

At SBM, the Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine SIG (EBBM) is your home for all things D&I. As a cross-disciplinary SIG, we support and promote D&I research being conducted at SBM and work to share innovative methods to move research forward through the translational research pipeline. At the 2024 Annual Meeting, EBBM members featured D&I in 11 presentations or posters, including presentations about acceptability of a healthy lifestyle promoting digital health intervention, an evaluation of the implementation of peer support within the context of an ongoing project, and research determining the real-world impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy for cancer distress.

EBBM also promotes D&I through a yearly award of abstracts accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting. In 2024, Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P., won the Best Dissemination and Implementation Abstract Award from the EBBM SIG for her abstract entitled, Real-world effectiveness of CBT-Cancer in the practice setting. We interviewed Dr. Ehlers to learn more about her interest in D&I.

D&I Researcher Highlight

Shawna L. Ehlers, PhD, LP, is a clinician, researcher, and mentee with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her transdisciplinary work within psychiatry and psychology research considers how multiple aspects of health behaviors impact health and well-being including tobacco use, obesity, adherence and compliance to medical regimens, and social support and caregiving. We asked Dr. Ehlers about the field of D&I; her responses have been lightly edited for brevity.

Question: What about your current work relates to implementation science?

Dr. Ehlers: I am a scientist practitioner who provides case consultation and intervention for cancer patients. I routinely witness a lack of best practices in the care my patients receive. The system has a problem with quality control, for example, when providing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to cancer patients. This drives my research program to test interventions within "real world" cancer care delivery services. By "real-world" I mean the actual practice infrastructure (e.g., scheduling, billing, care coordination) in which care is delivered.

Question: What excites you the most about implementation science?

Dr. Ehlers: The ability to make meaningful, systemic change in the lives of those who are the purpose for our research programs, in my case, people experiencing cancer. We also have an opportunity to build equitable access to care from the ground up, to include all patients as we launch this important work.

Question: Where would you like the field of implementation science to go in the next five years?

Dr. Ehlers: Testing interventions within the settings for which they are intended, using "real world" systems. We have more than 40 years of behavioral intervention development in cancer. I’d like to see a behavioral standard of care within cancer centers, akin to medical standards of care.

If you’d like your work to be featured by EBBM at next year’s Annual Meeting, make sure to include references to dissemination and implementation in your title or abstract! EBBM is always looking to collaborate with other SIGs and members for special interest projects related to D&I, which could include webinars, symposiums, workshops, etc. Please reach out to EBBM leadership (Jennifer.A.Emond@dartmouth.edu, kara.wiseman@virginia.edu, lauren_bohlen@brown.edu, and hannah.arem@medstar.net) if you have a D&I idea that you think would be of interest to SBM.

If you are interested in further D&I resources, we recommend:

1. More reading about D&I: https://dissemination-implementation.org/
2. Learn about training opportunities, like the Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (TIDIRC) Facilitated Course: https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/is/training-education/TIDIRC
3. Attend the AcademyHealth D&I Conference. Abstracts are due in July 2024 and the meeting occurs in December 2024: 17th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health | AcademyHealth