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Table 1 Key terms and definitions

From: Optimizing Implementation in Cancer Control (OPTICC): protocol for an implementation science center

Term

Definition

Determinant

Barriers or facilitators of implementing a new clinical practice

Precondition

Factor that is necessary for an implementation mechanism to be activated

Mediator

Intervening variable that may account for the relationship between the implementation strategy and the implementation outcome

Moderator

Factor that increases or decreases the level of influence of an implementation strategy

Mechanism

Basis for an implementation strategy’s effect—processes or events responsible for change produced by strategies. Mechanisms are always mediators, but the reverse is not true [2]

Proximal outcome

Product of the implementation strategy that is realized because of its specific mechanism of action. The most immediate, observable outcome in the causal pathway

Implementation outcome

Outcome that the implementation processes intend to achieve. Not the immediate outcome in the causal pathway