Scaling Up Public Health Interventions: Engaging Partners Across Multiple Levels

Abstract

Advancing the science of intervention scale-up is essential to increasing the impact of effective interventions at the regional and national levels. In contrast with work in high-income countries (HICs), where scale-up research has been limited, researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have conducted numerous studies on the regional and national scale-up of interventions. In this article, we review the state of the science on intervention scale-up in both HICs and LMICs. We provide an introduction to the elements of scale-up followed by a description of the scale-up process, with an illustrative case study from our own research. We then present findings from a scoping review comparing scale-up studies in LMIC and HIC settings. We conclude with lessons learned and recommendations for improving scale-up research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Tensions and Paradoxes of Scaling Up: A Critical Reflection on Physical Activity Promotion

“…The new knowledge generated from the scale-up workshop, and thus presented in this manuscript, extends what has already been learnt through studies of scaling up in the field. Building on previous research in this area that has provided valuable recommendations for improving scale-up process (e.g., [ 95 ]) and components of community-based scale-up (e.g., [ 96 ]), we adopted a unique approach to exploring the challenges and opportunities for scaling up in physical activity, by synthesizing multiple viewpoints and framing these through a reflexive and critical lens of ‘tensions’ and ‘paradoxes’. The originality of this paper lies in the fact that we delve deeper into stakeholders’ assumptions, processes and expectations of scaling up, and challenge in what ways as stakeholders, we all contribute to desired outcomes.…”

Informing the development of the SUCCEED reporting guideline for studies on the scaling of health interventions: A systematic review

“…Hence there is growing interest in the science and practice of scaling. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] In this project, we define the generic term "scaling" as a systematic process to broaden the reach and impact of evidence-based interventions so as to expand their benefits to individuals and society. [5,9,10] The consistent and transparent reporting of health research can facilitate the use of study findings in making decisions about health policy and practice-based decision making.…”

“…Hence there is growing interest in the science and practice of scaling. [1–8] In this project, we define the generic term “scaling” as a systematic process to broaden the reach and impact of evidence-based interventions so as to expand their benefits to individuals and society. [5,9,10]…”

Scaling up One Health: A network analysis in Lao PDR

“…One Health is not alone in the challenges it faces when trying to translate research into practice. Scaling up interventions and innovations has been a focus of the human health sector in recent decades, yet there is still a significant gap between what is known and what is done, particularly in low resource settings [ [13] , [14] , [15] ]. A key aspect of scaling up is understanding the individuals and organisations that may promote, support, adopt, or implement research [ 15 ].…”

“…Scaling up interventions and innovations has been a focus of the human health sector in recent decades, yet there is still a significant gap between what is known and what is done, particularly in low resource settings [ [13] , [14] , [15] ]. A key aspect of scaling up is understanding the individuals and organisations that may promote, support, adopt, or implement research [ 15 ]. Network analysis provides an opportunity to identify and understand these organisations and aide scaling up efforts [ 16 , 17 ].…”