What influences a sustainable implementation of evidence-based interventions in community mental health services? Development and pilot testing of a tool for mapping core components

Background: An important aspect of research regarding the implementation of evidence-based practice is the sustainability and long-term stability of a programme. There is a need to measure these critical components for establishing successful programmes. Aim: The aim was to develop and pilot test the sustainable implementation scale (SIS) for measuring the critical components in the sustainable implementation of community mental health services. Method: The scale was based on implementation research and consisted of three subscales regarding (1) the organisational level, (2) the team level and (3) continuous support. Data from interviews and documents were collected from 14 programmes implementing the Individual Placement and Support model of supported employment. Results: Internal consistency was acceptable for all subscales and for the scale as a whole. Regarding the scale, an analysis of the differences between fully established programmes and the programmes that were not established or were or only partially established after three years showed statistically significant differences, indicating that a greater number of implementation components were present in the fully established programmes. Conclusions: SIS showed both good reliability and acceptable internal consistency as well as the ability to predict programme survival