Implementation Science to Promote Equity in Women’s Behavioral Health

To assist in closing the research-to-practice gap, the field of implementation science aims to enhance the understanding and use of evidence-based practices. Although commonplace in many areas of health services, implementation science is comparatively underutilized in the field of women’s behavioral health despite this applied science having the potential to play a unique role in its continued development, expansion, and care quality improvement. This chapter provides a broad lens of both implementation science and women’s behavioral health, focusing on how women’s behavioral health issues may be more equitably addressed through the consistent application of evidence-based practices guided by implementation science. We explore the history of inequities of women in scientific research, the emergence of women’s issues in behavioral health over time, and the development of implementation science. Finally, the chapter identifies global research initiatives that effectively utilize implementation science approaches in women-focused interventions and review where implementation approaches are specifically lacking in women’s behavioral health. The field of implementation science provides tools for service organizations, practitioners, and researchers to integrate interventions most effectively into real-world settings. Implementation approaches that consider the nuances of real-world application and clinical practice may potentially address inequities in women’s behavioral health care.