Members of the IMPACT Collaboratory co-authored an editorial in the October edition of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA) addressing the limitations of the linear model for development and testing on new interventions and the need for support for dissemination and implementation of dementia care interventions.

Joseph Gaugler, PhD, and Laura Gitlin, PhD from IMPACT’s Implementation Core, and Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD from the Patient Caregiver Relevant Outcomes Core collaborated in writing this commentary. They acknowledge the value of conducting early stage research of interventions within the linear NIH Stage Model, but argue that a more dynamic circular model of intervention development is important when developing an intervention for dementia care. The authors offer 3 guiding principles for considering readiness of dementia care interventions for dissemination and implementation: 1) The evidence base of dementia care interventions requires ongoing development; 2) The importance of incorporating implementation science principles throughout the life cycle of intervention development; and 3) The heterogeneous nature of intervention evidence is to be embraced, not shunned.  Read more here.