Implementation Science

The study of methods and strategies that promote the systematic uptake of research findings and evidence-based practices into routine clinical, educational, or service settings. Implementation science addresses the well-documented research-to-practice gap: even rigorously evidenced interventions often fail to reach the people they were designed for because of training, funding, organizational, or cultural barriers. In accessibility, implementation science matters because assistive technologies, AAC interventions, classroom accommodations, and clinical tools that work in lab studies frequently stall when they meet the realities of schools, clinics, workplaces, and family life. The field uses frameworks such as RE-AIM and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to evaluate adoption, fidelity, sustainability, and equity of access.