ArticleImplementation research and practice
Getting cozy with causality: Advances to the causal pathway diagramming method to enhance implementation precision.
Article in Implementation research and practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Tailored interventions to address determinants of practice.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Mechanisms of change of a multifaceted implementation strategy on fidelity to a guideline for the prevention of mental health problems at the workplace: a mechanism analysis within a cluster-randomized controlled trial.Implementation science : IS · 2025Trial
- Specification and Causal Pathway Diagramming of Implementation Strategies to Support Development of Access-Enhancing Injectable HIV Treatment Programmes at Eight Diverse Health Clinics Across the United States.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Article
- Implementation Science for Emergency Physicians: A Schematic Diagram and Step-By-Step Guidance to Implement Evidence-Based Innovations.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Review
- Impact of a diagnostic strategy for appendicitis in children with acute abdominal pain in primary care: study protocol for a hybrid type 1 cluster randomised controlled trial.Diagnostic and prognostic research · 2026Review
- Implementing a multimodal lifestyle intervention for depression and overweight in primary and secondary care: protocol for an implementation study exploring what works, how, and under what conditions.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- The roads towards fidelity: a mixed-method study of mechanisms of a multifaceted implementation strategy to improve implementation of a guideline for the prevention of mental Ill-health at the workplace in a school setting.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Five years of the Implementation Research Logic Model: a citation analysis and systematic scoping review of its use in implementation research and practice.Implementation science : IS · 2026Article
- How and Under What Conditions Do Patient Portals Improve Cancer Screening Completion: A Scoping Review.AJPM focus · 2026Review
- Matters arising: a commentary on "Failing to succeed: advancing mechanistic understanding of implementation strategies through retrospective and prospective use of causal pathway diagrams" by Austad et al. 2025.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- A mixed methods evaluation of mechanisms for facilitation in pediatric primary care.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of practice facilitation identified using system dynamics diagramming in a tailored implementation study of unhealthy alcohol screening and treatment in primary care.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Overcoming barriers and embedding processes to sustainably deliver high-dose post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation: a mixed methods longitudinal process evaluation.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation studies: why and how to do them.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Making Sense of Implementation Science Planning Tools: Addressing Implementation Challenges in Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Treatment.Global implementation research and applications · 2026Review
- Failing to succeed: advancing mechanistic understanding of implementation strategies through retrospective and prospective use of causal pathway diagrams.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Optimizing healthcare for blood donors at risk of transfusion-transmissible infections: pre-implementation mixed methods protocol.Global health action · 2025Article
- Investigating the Role of Situational Disruptors in Engagement with Digital Mental Health Tools.CSCW : proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Implementation strategies are theorized to work well when carefully matched to implementation determinants and when factors-preconditions, moderators, etc.-that influence strategy effectiveness are prospectively identified and addressed. Existing methods for strategy selection are either imprecise or require significant technical expertise and resources, undermining their utility. This article outlines refinements to causal pathway diagrams (CPDs), a method for articulating the causal process through which implementation strategies work and offers illustrations of their use. Method: CPDs are a visualization tool to represent an implementation strategy, its mechanism(s) (i.e., the processes through which a strategy is thought to operate), determinants it is intended to address, factors that may impede or facilitate its effectiveness, and the series of outcomes that should be expected if the strategy is operating as intended. We offer principles for constructing CPDs and describe their key functions. Results: Applications of the CPD method by study teams from two National Institute of Health-funded Implementation Science Centers and a research grant are presented. These include the use of CPDs to (a) match implementation strategies to determinants, (b) understand the conditions under which an implementation strategy works, and (c) develop causal theories of implementation strategies. Conclusions: CPDs offer a novel method for implementers to select, understand, and improve the effectiveness of implementation strategies. They make explicit theoretical assumptions about strategy operation while supporting practical planning. Early applications have led to method refinements and guidance for the field.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.