Practitioner Networks of Expertise

Chair: Will A. Aldridge, PhD

Trainee Chair: Stephanie P. Brooks, PhD Candidate 

The SIRC Practitioner Network of Expertise is comprised of experts on the principles and process of evidence-based practice implementation – that which occurs outside of research environments. Many implementation practitioners conduct research or evaluation themselves or work in partnership with academic centers, but their primary focus is the implementation itself. It is often practitioners who are in the best position to identify the barriers to implementation and important research questions to answer.

Why join the SIRC Practitioner NoE?

Practitioner NoE membership will allow you to:

● Meet and network with other SIRC Practitioner NoE members; through sub-network meetings and listserv;
● Participate in a monthly sub-network meeting, during which members share their implementation work with each other, get advice on solving implementation challenges, make connections around shared interests, and work on Practitioner NoE projects;
● Participate in the current Practitioner NoE project on developing consensus documents on how to build infrastructure to support the evidence based practice (EBP) of implementation;
● Participate in the SIRC biennial conference Practitioner NoE activities, such as the Practitioner NoE luncheon;
● Participate in the SIRC Implementation Development Workshop, an online or half day event where we invite NoE members to present “works in development” to receive expert feedback from colleagues, held at the SIRC biennial conference.

A brief history of the Practitioner NoE

SIRC’s mission is to bridge the gap between implementation research and practice through rigorous and efficient frameworks and methods. SIRC has prioritized contributions from and partnership between researchers and practitioners to advance this mission – both during and between conferences.

SIRC’s original mechanism for engaging practice partners was the “EBP Champions Task Force,” a group comprised of SIRC researchers, providers, intermediaries, and policy makers. The Task Force met routinely to plan practitioner-oriented conference activities and identify mechanisms for better engaging practitioners in SIRC.

Based on a consensus of the EBP Champions Task Force and SIRC officers, the Task Force was transitioned to the Practitioner NoE, aligning it with SIRC’s existing research focused networks (see Student, New Investigator, and Established NoEs). Realizing the breadth and diversity of the Practitioner NoE members, we created three sub-networks (provider, intermediary and policy/funder) to pursue interests relevant to each area of practice. These changes have led to significant growth in both the membership and participation of practitioners in SIRC.

Our Practitioner NoE reflects three distinct areas of expertise: 

1. Provider Sub-Network – Leaders and EBP champions within clinics and agencies providing direct clinical or prevention services who implement EBPs to improve the quality of the care they provide.
2. Intermediaries Sub-Network – Intermediaries, trainers, consultants, facilitators, evaluators, and purveyors interested in proactive implementation supports to provider agencies.
3. Policy/Funder Sub-Network –Those working in organizations that inform local, state, and federal policy; and trainers, providers, and academics committed to informing policy change.

Each sub-network is co-chaired by a practitioner and a researcher who implement EBPs. Details for each sub-network are available on their respective webpages.

Membership

If you would like to nominate someone (including yourself) to join the Practitioner NoE and any of its sub-networks, please email SIRC at sircimplementation@gmail.com with “Practitioner NoE” in the subject line.

Researchers who are also practitioners are welcome to join the Practitioner NoE.  Practitioner NoE members may join more than one sub-network.