Researchers: Moriah Ellen¹

Background: To supply the highest quality services, public health policies and practice should be based on up-to-date research. Implementation science (IS) is an innovative field that provides methods aiding the uptake of evidence-based practices. The extent of IS use in Israel is unknown, greater knowledge of the field may be useful in improving public health outcomes.

Objectives: To document the extent of IS use in public health organizations, understand the facilitators and barriers to implementing IS programs and understand the essential components on which to build IS programs in public health organizations.

Method: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with policymakers in HMOs and Ministry of Health and with public health researchers. The interview guide consisted of open-ended questions and questions adapted from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed.

Findings: Participants perceptions of IS demonstrated conceptual ambiguity and lack of shared terminology, with participants commonly applying IS-aligned practices and providing case examples of successful implementation. Barriers affecting organizational IS included lack of structural and institutional support, fragmented and short-term funding, lack of planning and evaluation of implementation processes and political and bureaucratic constraints. Facilitators included trust-based relationships and informal networks, interdisciplinary approaches and cross-sector collaboration, and high-quality technological and data infrastructure. Participants also identified financial, human, technological, and organizational resources as foundational to the development of IS capacity.

Conclusions: There is a need to transition from informal, project-dependent implementation efforts to a structured, system-wide approach.

Recommendations: IS should be embedded into organizational roles, professional development pathways, funding structures, and evaluation systems to translate existing practices into consistent, long-term, scalable impact. Recommendations include creating formal recognition and support for the implementation activities already occurring, development of dedicated implementation support functions, training and IS capacity building, and systematic reform of the funding landscape.

Research end date: 07/2025