Table 1 Master list of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions, programs, and policies

 Donor

Provides financial support for research, translation, and/or implementation of programs.

Funder

“The donors’ main role is funding research, KT [knowledge translation] activities, and implementation of research findings [3, 16]. However, Young pointed out that the role of donors in KT can be both supportive and disruptive [17]. Failure to address local research priorities and taking control of the research and policy agendas are among the criticisms leveled against donors [18, 19]” [20].

 Insurer

Pays for services delivered and influences what interventions are allowed and paid for.

Payer, government insurance

“Economic evaluations of interventions usually take a variety of perspectives, including those of the social planner (societal perspective) as well of the entity making the decision whether or not to adopt the intervention being evaluated (i.e., the payer). The latter perspective is important because the payer is making the decision of whether or not to adopt the intervention; the reason the societal perspective is also important is because the payer may vary by intervention and disease… Currently, third-party payers do not as yet explicitly resource the costs of implementation in their rate-setting decisions, basing reimbursement either on the intervention or, additionally, on the type of provider delivering the intervention” [16].

 Elected official

Has political power and can enact policies to support the implementation of EBPs and/or influence research agendas.

Politician, political leaders

“The roles of politicians have been identified as mobilization of communities, dissemination of evidence, and advocacy. However, politicians may face several challenges, including the pressure to respond to their constituencies and political ideological agendas that may influence how they deal with the available evidence [3, 10]” [20].

 Policy maker/senior government official

Responsible for formulating policy to support implementation of EBPs but do not have political power.

Civil service employees, regulatory agency staff

“Policy makers influence the degree to which research informs policy development, shape the research prioritization process, and impact the actual generation of knowledge [7, 16]. In addition, policy makers play a key role in establishing the required platforms for engagement in KT and in building partnerships between researchers and other stakeholders [21].” [20].

 Licensing organizations

Responsible for influencing priorities for EBPs/program implementation.

Accrediting agency staff

“Finally, strategies that attend to the policy context (n = 3) can encourage the promotion of clinical innovations through accrediting bodies, licensing boards, and legal systems” [21].

 Organizational executive/leader

Holds a position of organizational authority to make decisions about organizational priorities related to resources and approach to implement EBPs or programs.

Chief executive officer, senior leadership team member, health systems leader

“When management communicates the importance of the implementation of a new practice through its policies, procedures, and reward systems, employees are able to clearly understand that the leaders in the organization care about the implementation and use of the innovation, therefore enabling employees to better focus their energy and motivation for that goal. As a result, the overall implementation is more likely to succeed” [22].

 Manager

Manages frontline workers in implementation and is supervised by top managers in an organization.

Project managers, nurse managers, team managers

“Studies of middle managers’ role were conducted in several countries and healthcare settings, across multiple implementation phases, and were related to a range of EBPs; this suggests the breadth of contexts in which middle managers may play an important role in implementing innovations and practice changes” [23]

 Clinical/public health researcher

Generates evidence for innovative interventions, programs, or policies and can be involved in researching methods for the translation of these innovations into practice.

Investigator, evaluator

“Researchers have a key role to play in the synthesis and translation of innovations. Often, the developers of a particular innovation play a major role in its translation. However, it is important to consult or work collaboratively with the intended audience, so that the product developed is more useful to the end user” [24].

 Implementation researcher

Generates evidence on factors affecting successful implementation of innovations and researches strategies for addressing these factors.

Investigator, evaluator

“Implementation researchers have identified constructs, variables, and strategies that support the sustainable use of evidence to improve outcomes. These constructs and strategies have been synthesized into frameworks and conceptual models that provide a basis for the science of implementation and are used by implementation specialists to support communities to implement, scale, and sustain evidence-informed practices for impact” [17].

 Implementation support professional

Uses models, frameworks and strategies from implementation research to aid implementers in implementation, scaling, and sustainability of interventions, policies, or programs.

Purveyor, support provider, intermediary, implementation scientist, implementation specialist, facilitator, coach, consultant, technical assistance provider, quality improvement leader

“Implementation researchers have identified constructs, variables, and strategies that support the sustainable use of evidence to improve outcomes. These constructs and strategies have been synthesized into frameworks and conceptual models that provide a basis for the science of implementation and are used by implementation specialists to support communities to implement, scale, and sustain evidence-informed practices for impact” [17].

 Implementer

Carries out innovations and can contribute to developing local innovations and strategies for effective implementation.

Practitioner, provider, healthcare professional, clinician, staff, implementation team member

“…practitioners, who are responsible for program implementation, management, or evaluation, described by Kirchner et al. as the agents who promote evidence-based interventions by using implementation tools and through collaboration with implementation experts in order to employ evidence-based strategies [12]. Implementers must systematically and rigorously employ the theory informed frameworks and strategies proposed by the researchers in routine practice in particular settings” [2].

 Implementation science capacity building professionals

Provide implementation science training in academic and non-academic settings.

“Various institutions have begun offering stand-alone implementation science courses to various student audiences [25,36,26]. For example, the University of Michigan Medical School’s Health Infrastructures and Learning Systems program offers, to master’s and doctoral students, a two-semester sequence in ‘Implementation Science in Health’ [25]” [2].

“The intensive workshops offered by the Implementation Research Institute (IRI) and the Training Institute on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) are prime examples in this category [researcher training programs not leading to a university degree, diploma, or certificate]” [2].

 Patients

Influence implementation research and practice by making decisions about adherence and adoption of interventions, policies, and programs.

Consumers, clients, families, community members

“Considering D&I as a process with multiple phases has implications for how the various topographic levels (i.e., country, system, organization, provider, patient) may impact or be impacted by the D&I of evidence-based practices into routine care. Such bidirectional effects are key to conceptual models that recognize recipients of new technologies as not passive but as highly likely to react in various ways depending on characteristics of the context, the innovation to be implemented, and individual differences in health care providers and patients” [22].