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TRAction Project Overview

What is the TRAction Project?

The USAID|Translating Research into Action (TRAction) Project supports implementation science - which seeks to develop, test, and compare approaches to more effectively deliver health interventions, increase utilization, achieve coverage, and scale-up evidence-based interventions. TRAction supports implementation research to provide critically-needed evidence to program implementers and policy-makers addressing maternal and child health issues. TRAction is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and is managed under a Cooperative Agreement by University Research Co., LLC (URC) in collaboration with its partner, the Harvard University School of Public Health.

TRAction solicits, reviews, awards, and monitors grants to research organizations to develop and test approaches to more effectively deliver and scale-up evidence-based interventions for priority health care challenges. TRAction emphasizes local ownership and partnerships in order to scale up equitable and sustainable efforts.

Why implementation science?

There are many effective methods for reducing health disparities around the world, but up-to-date guidance on how to implement new and proven health interventions at scale and across different contexts is not widely available. This is a result of limited documentation and dissemination of existing knowledge, traditional research models that are impractical for studying program implementation, and a lack of value for implementation science within the research community.

To address these challenges and provide critically-needed evidence to program implementers and policy-makers, TRAction:

• „Advances and legitimizes innovative approaches for implementation science through the use of appropriate methodologies to explore why and how best practices work in particular settings;
• „Engages local and international organizations throughout the research process to strengthen research capacity and promote advocacy efforts;
• Supports research on how lessons can be scaled up and translated to other settings;
• Shares results with relevant stakeholders; and
• „Fosters dialogues to advance the field of implementation science.

Sharing Knowledge and Results

A critical component of TRAction’s strategy is determining how to link to communities of practice and share new evidence with relevant stakeholders—including policy makers, practitioners, and advocates—to
inform practice. Decisions on the best methods to accomplish this are guided by technical advisory group inputs and examples include:

• Packaging results, not only in the traditional peer-reviewed publication format, but also in the form of policy briefs, working papers, implementation toolkits, learning modules, and diagnostic tools.
• „Employing various modes of dissemination, including in-country meetings with local and global stakeholders, international conferences and platforms, and technical consultations.
• „Complementing the above by leveraging social media and other innovative technologies to communicate TRAction’s work and results to a broader audience.

What priority health care challenges does TRAction currently work on?

TRAction currently coordinates research on a variety of topics that affect the health of large numbers of women and children, such as:

• Respectful maternal care during childbirth
• Household air pollution
• Human resources for health and task-shifting of caesarian sections
• Strengthening referral and surveillance systems
• Nutrition interventions
• Water, sanitation, and hygiene
• Malaria prevention and control
• Tuberculosis prevention and treatment
• Community-level management of unclassified fever
• Recognition of maternal and newborn complications
• Integrated community case management
• Community-based treatment
• Behavior change communication and mHealth
• Equitable healthcare access, and
• Performance-based incentives for quality healthcare.

Information on these topics and the research projects associated with them can be found in the links above or by exploring the tan bar at the top of the page.