RE-AIM Implementation Framework

This entry offers a description of the implementation framework RE-AIM. The main reasons for using an implementation framework for health communication interventions are to describe the process of translating research into practice, to explain what influences implementation, and to evaluate the sustainability of the intervention. The RE-AIM framework is a frequently used implementation framework consisting of five constructs: reach, effectiveness or efficacy, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Reach refers to how to reach the targeted population with the intervention; effectiveness/efficacy evaluates the impact of an intervention on important outcomes; adoption evaluates the absolute number of people who are willing to initiate the program; implementation refers to the fidelity of the various elements of an intervention's protocol; and maintenance focuses on how the intervention is incorporated so that it is delivered over the long term. The constructs of reach, effectiveness, and maintenance operate at the individual level (i.e., those who are intended to benefit). Adoption, implementation, and maintenance focus on the staff and setting/institutional levels. These are often multilevel and include issues of the internal and external contexts that are important for impact on the public health population. This entry also offers an example of the RE-AIM framework's use in health practice, namely, how the RE-AIM framework was used to study the implementation of a person-centered health communication intervention for people with dementia living in nursing homes.