Case study guided development of an implementation science framework and checklist for campus sexual violence intervention

TL;DR

This paper presents a new framework and checklist for implementing campus sexual violence interventions, based on case studies from multiple countries.

Contribution

A modified implementation science framework tailored for campus sexual violence interventions, derived from cross-national case studies.

Findings

Key issues unique to campus sexual violence interventions include policy, team praxis, relationships, and infrastructure.

The adapted framework integrates these issues into a conceptual model for planning and implementation.

The checklist supports researchers and practitioners in addressing implementation challenges specific to this context.

Abstract

Campus sexual violence interventions must be scalable and effective in real-world settings. However, campus sexual violence interventions have unique implementation contexts that are not fully addressed by the most common implementation science (IS) frameworks. Hybrid studies—designs that incorporate effectiveness and implementation outcomes into a single trial—are an important tool to shorten the translation pipeline and enhance the efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions. We conducted a series of case studies to explore the applicability of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to campus sexual violence interventions and to develop an adapted framework and checklist that could be used to advance the IS of campus sexual violence intervention research.

We developed four case studies of campus sexual violence interventions from the United States, South Africa, and Eswatini. Two were delivered digitally (United States and Eswatini) and two were delivered in person (South Africa and Eswatini). We analyzed these cases using a comparative design guided by CFIR’s theorized constructs, aiming to identify IS concerns that are likely unique to campus sexual violence implementation (CSVI) research. These analyses were used to develop a CSVI-specific IS checklist and planning worksheet.

We identified multiple cross-cutting issues unique to the IS of campus sexual violence interventions: policy and legal framework, team praxis, relationships, context, infrastructure, and people. We situated these within a conceptual framework to reflect their intersections and developed a checklist of considerations at the planning, implementation, and post-project reflection phases.

The field of campus sexual violence intervention research will benefit from the integration of IS methodologies. While we found CFIR to be a useful starting point, it requires certain key modifications to fully support sexual violence intervention research. The adapted CFIR framework we developed from a cross-national set of case studies offers a valuable tool to meet the needs of funders, researchers, and practitioners in the global north and south.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44263-025-00215-0.

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