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Implementation Science, Context, and Anthropological Explorations

Written by: Megan McCullough
Published on: Sep 13, 2022

Are you considering a career in Health Services Research? 

Megan McCullough, Ph.D., Research Health Scientist and Investigator at Center for Healthcare Organization, recently spoke with AAA about how she came to Health Services Research and how anthropology can be inserted and incorporated into improving Veterans health care within the structure of the VA. Successfully implementing evidence-based interventions requires sophisticated understanding of the context and processes of implementation as it unfolds. Ethnographic methods, including observation and documentation of social phenomena as they occur over time, are ideal for managing the complexity inherent in implementation science (IS). Pioneering ethnographic approaches to implementation planning, conduct, and evaluation, anthropologists are shedding new light on causes and mechanisms of implementation difficult to capture using other methods.
In this clip, Dr. McCullough discusses the connection between implementation science and anthropology. Dr. McCullough's talk was organized and sponsored by the Research on U.S. Healthcare Special Interest Group of the Society for Medical Anthropology.

 

Disclaimer: 
The opinions expressed in this video are the personal views of Megan McCullough and do not reflect the views of the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR) or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Video Length: 5 minutes, 49 seconds