Implementation Science: Ensuring the Return on Our Research Investment.

Implementation is the use of strategies to adopt and integrate evidence-based health interventions and to change practice patterns. In their article, "Implementation-the missing link in the research translation pipeline," Lynch et al1 report that only a small fraction of published stroke rehabilitation research in leading clinical journals evaluates the implementation of evidence-based interventions into health care practice. Their findings are a wake-up call. If we are to achieve the end goals of our research investment and improve population health, then we need to also ensure that the evidence we generate is translated into real-world use.