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This profile outlines the guiding principles and core competencies needed to build the capacity of practitioners and communities to effectively implement evidence in health and human services. Implementation support practitioners (ISP) are professionals who support organizations, leaders, and staff in their implementation of evidence-informed practices and policies. They identify, contextualize, and improve the use of evidenced-informed implementation strategies in a range of settings. They also build implementation capacity among teams, organizations, and systems. They can be referred to as coaches, improvement advisors, technical assistance providers, facilitators, consultants, mentors, and implementation specialists. Implementation support practitioners often reside outside of the service systems they work in, but may also reside within a service system when those systems have work units specifically designed to support implementation and scaling efforts. This ISP Profile presents "principles" that guide the work of ISPs and "core competencies" that they require to provide effective implementation support. Both were identified through an initial literature review, a document review, vetting with individuals providing implementation support, an integrative systematic review, and a content validation survey with international intermediary organizations. [This profile was prepared with the Centre for Effective Services and the European Implementation Collaborative. For "Implementation Support Practitioner Profile: Guiding Principles and Core Competencies for Implementation Practice, Version 3.0," see ED607181.]

The purpose of the "Implementation Support Practitioner Profile" is to identify the skills and competencies needed by implementation support practitioners to support effective implementation and scaling of evidence-informed practices, programs and policies to improve outcomes for people and communities. The integration of implementation research and practice often relies on a specific set of actors who use evidence derived from implementation research to support leaders, practitioners, and community partners in change efforts. We refer to these actors as implementation support practitioners. They often reside outside the service systems they work in but may also reside within a service system when those systems have work units specifically designed to support implementation and scaling efforts. The "Implementation Support Practitioner Profile" outlines the skills and competencies needed to build the capacity of practitioners and communities to effectively use evidence to improve outcomes. The role of the implementation support practitioner is informed by philosophical principles that guide the work and defined by core competencies that describe a range of activities implementation support practitioners conduct. Skills and competencies were identified through a literature review, document review, vetting with individuals providing implementation support, and a content validation survey with international intermediary organizations. A systematic scoping review is underway and focus groups and usability testing will be conducted with implementation support practitioners working in a range of contexts. [This profile was prepared with the Centre for Effective Services.]