Research with positive impact

The IMPACT Center’s research includes signature projects and pilot studies designed to test and refine IMPACT methods and toolkits — while connecting to stakeholders to understand how best to integrate the youth and family voice.

Signature Projects

Optimizing and increasing the reach of evidence-based practices to improve youth mental health

All of the IMPACT Center’s three signature projects partner researchers with stakeholders to test and refine novel methods in community-based settings — so that we can amplify the impact of evidence-based practices to improve youth mental health.

Our signature projects tackle three key implementation challenges: identifying and prioritizing determinants, matching strategies to prioritized determinants, optimizing matched strategies for community settings.

Pilot Studies

Creating an incubator for IMPACT methods through our pilot grant program

Supporting pilot studies is a critical part of the IMPACT Center’s work and supports our aim to train members of the scientific workforce to partner with stakeholders in using IMPACT methods.

Through our pilot projects, we can extend IMPACT’s talent pipeline, test and refine our methods and toolkits, and connect to stakeholders to understand how best to support the practice and research communities in most effectively integrating youth and family perspectives.

Using IMPACT Methods to Close the Research to Practice Gap

Measurement development spans the stages of optimization. Researchers and implementers need robust, useful measures of determinants (Stage I), mechanisms (Stage II), and outcomes (Stage III). Project leads are supported by Methods Core faculty in their methods application specific to their project work and offered consultation from a national expert to further build their general implementation science capacity.

Researchers and implementers can begin work in any of IMPACT’s evidence-based intervention implementation stages and move forward or backward depending on their optimization goals.

A linear progression (Stage I→II→III) can be appropriate if researchers or implementers need to clarify critical determinants to select and then test strategies to alter them.

Stages of Optimization

Stage 1

Identify & Prioritize Determinants

Stage 2

Match Strategies

Stage 3

Optimize Strategies

Others may have an effective multicomponent strategy that could be optimized by moving backward to mapping strategy components (Stage II) and then forward to optimization testing of strategy components before large-scale evaluation or use in clinical or community settings (Stage III).

There will be open calls for IMPACT studies, which will engage additional partners and researchers.

Learn about IMPACT Center methods for optimization