# Advancing Tailored Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in School-Based Mental Health

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2021 · $19,422

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Schools are often the primary setting for entry to care,3 with 70-80% of all youth mental health services
delivered in schools.4 Yet, school-based EBPs are rarely adopted, delivered with fidelity, or sustained over
time.5 There is an urgent need to address the implementation gap that limits youth access to quality school-
based EBPs and compromises youth mental health outcomes.6 Improving implementation of school-based
EBPs requires effective implementation strategies that are tailored to locally prioritized barriers.7 Facilitation
has become an increasingly popular and potentially effective approach for tailoring strategies; however, there
is limited empirical guidance regarding replicable methods facilitators use to engage stakeholders in (a)
identifying and prioritizing implementation barriers, (b) matching and modifying implementation strategies to
address barriers, and (c) co-developing implementation plans to improve implementation and client outcomes.
This project aims to iteratively develop, refine and demonstrate the promise of a theory-informed facilitation
intervention, the Facilitated Implementation Tailoring (FIT) strategy, to address gaps that limit the consistent
effectiveness of facilitation for the purposes of tailoring implementation strategies to address local barriers to
implementation. FIT builds off of the Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health
Services (i-PARIHS) framework and will include adaptations of the Program Planning Model, which provides
theory-informed methods of facilitating solution-oriented prioritization and planning processes in innovation
implementation projects. To develop and refine FIT, this proposal will leverage an ongoing implementation
effort between the Institute of Translational Research, the Minnesota Department of Health Services, and
Hennepin County schools focused on the delivery of the Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in
Schools (CBITS) for trauma-exposed youth.33-35 The proposed research will address two aims: Aim 1 will
involve a development study including four focus groups, two with internal and external facilitators and two with
school-based stakeholders (n=24-32) to inform refinements to FIT content and delivery and develop a fidelity
tool. Aim 2 will involve a feasibility demonstration study including application of the revised FIT with internal
facilitators and school-based stakeholder in partnering schools (n=18-24) to inform refinements to FIT content
and delivery as well as process variables (i.e., consensus, collective efficacy, collaboration) hypothesized as
potential causal mechanisms by which FIT exerts an effect that in future evaluation of FIT. Fidelity to FIT will
also be assessed. To accomplish the aims, the applicant will receive training in: 1) implementation strategy
design and tailoring, 2) participatory research, and 3) mixed methods research under the direction of Drs.
Clayton Cook, Aaron Lyon, Cara Lewis, B...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10131028
- **Project number:** 5F31MH117947-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Madeline F Larson
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $19,422
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-20 → 2021-07-05

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10131028

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10131028, Advancing Tailored Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in School-Based Mental Health (5F31MH117947-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10131028. Licensed CC0.

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