StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change

A completely updated and streamlined version of our foundational course, Designing for Implementation.

🗓️ Enrollment open year-round

💻 100% Online

⏱️ Self-paced

Why StrategEase?

Throughout our work supporting hundreds of change initiatives, we regularly see assumptions being made about why people are or aren’t changing. Because of these assumptions, people aren’t properly supported to change.

Consider how often education and training are used to try to get others to do something differently. It’s easy to assume they aren’t following through with the change because they don’t know they’re supposed to do it, so we think providing knowledge will help.

But what if they actually know what they’re supposed to do, but don’t? What if things like beliefs or emotions are actually what’s hindering them? If that’s the case, how effective will education be as a strategy? (Spoiler alert: It won’t be.)

If you’re implementing any kind of change, this probably sounds familiar. You know the results that you want to achieve, but getting there is hard. What if instead of relying on assumptions, you could tap into what’s really going on?

We’ll guide you through the process of creating change!

StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change provides you with a step-by-step roadmap for supporting people to change, so that you can achieve the outcomes and impact you’re aiming for.

Using our StrategEase Pathway, we unpack the components of creating sustainable change, show you how to systematically understand barriers and facilitators to change, and how to select effective strategies to address them.

By drawing from the scientific literature as well as our own experiences supporting 100+ implementation projects, this pathway lays out 4 major steps to guide you through the process of creating any kind of change.

This course will show you how to use theory and evidence to select your change strategies and set up your initiative (and yourself) for success.

Meet your instructors

“The StrategEase pathway is the foundation of all change efforts. We often see people implementing and even scaling change initiatives before they have done a deep dive into understanding WHO is being asked to do WHAT and doing a deep dive into people's barriers and facilitators to change. When we skip these steps, it’s easy for people to choose change strategies that they are comfortable with (like education or audit and feedback), without recognizing whether these strategies directly addressed peoples barriers to change. This course provides a step-by-step guide to help you be more strategic in how you create change.”

- Dr. Julia E. Moore

“I truly believe that thinking about people - where they live and work, their experiences, their challenges and successes and how they can be supported - is the key to understanding change. The StrategEase centers people in change, and teaches participants the core components of any change initiative: the WHO, the WHAT and the HOW. So many people who have taken this course, no matter what field or level of the system they work in, have had light bulb moments about the nature of change and feel that their work is more intentional and thoughtful.”

- Dr. Sobia Khan

This course is for you if…

You want to design and implement initiatives using a more evidence-based approach

You’ve collected data on why people aren’t changing their behavior but feel a bit lost with what to do next

Your efforts didn’t produce the outcomes you intended and now you aren’t sure which strategies would have a greater impact

You want strategic guidance for creating long-lasting change

Who might benefit from this course?

  • Changemakers

  • Researchers

  • Students

  • Program developers

  • Consultants

  • Evaluators

Ready to join us?

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What is included in StrategEase?

🎥 25+ short-form instructional videos led by your instructors, Dr. Julia Moore, Executive Director of The Center for Implementation and Dr. Sobia Khan, Director of Implementation

🎧 6 short-form audio recordings where we share the hidden curriculum — tips & suggestions from our experiences in supporting various initiatives using StrategEase

📝 Interactive activities to help test your knowledge (a favorite feature of many of our past participants)

⚙️ A collection of 4 hands-on tools developed by our expert team to help you put StrategEase concepts into practice with additional resources that can help you engage your team, facilitate the activities, and gain momentum within your organization

📖 6 assignments that enable you to apply the instructional content to your own work and initiatives

💻 6 conversational videos where we walk you through 2 context-specific examples to illustrate how the assignments can be applied to projects

📎 A comprehensive PDF workbook that is yours to keep which gives an overview of all course concepts, activities, readings, and assignments

📚 Recommended readings and additional resources

💬 Direct communication with our course facilitators to answer your questions as you move through the content

👥 Networking opportunities with other course participants

🎓 Certificate of completion after successfully completing the course and assignments

By taking this course you will…

  • Be able to clearly articulate your vision and the impact of your initiative

  • Consider equity throughout every stage of the implementation process

  • Define WHO is being asked to do WHAT differently

  • Learn how to unpack and link barriers and facilitators to behavior change theory

  • Select effective change strategies that address barriers and facilitators

  • Plan for sustainability from the very beginning

We’ll guide through our new tool!

StrategEase was formerly a paper-based process that has turned into a free, online interactive tool for busy professionals. It guides you through four-steps that will simplify and speed up the time it takes to plan for implementation. The goal of this tool is to guide you through the process of mapping your barriers and facilitators to a list of change strategies.

Module Overview

    • The relationship between dissemination and implementation, and the difference between their science and practice

    • The social nature of creating change and its relational aspects

    • What’s involved in planning for implementation as well as implementing, spreading, and scaling an initiative

    • A framework you can use to think about how to embody equity in your change efforts

    • Defining your role and the role of others in the implementation system

    • The different components of planning for sustainability

    • How to develop an implementation team

    • The importance of distinguishing between a need and a gap

    • How defining the WHY and what success looks like early on helps to move implementation forward

    • Considerations related to evidence and equity

    • How to define WHO is being asked to do WHAT differently and HOW you can they will be supported to change their behavior

    • The nested and interconnected nature of change, which emerges when WHOs and WHATs are nested within one another in complex initiatives

    • The different kinds of WHATs and how the 7 Ps can help you unpack your WHAT

    • Why you might need to adapt what you are implementing to different contexts, and different factors you can use to understand what adaptations might need to be made

    • Why exploring barriers and facilitators is critical to success when designing for implementation

    • Using theory to understand barriers and facilitators

    • The multiple different factors that impact whether individuals change

    • The contextual factors that impact whether an implementation setting changes

    • How change strategies are related to barriers and facilitators

    • The different purposes change strategies can serve

    • Considerations to make when enacting change strategies

    • How each step of the StrategEase Pathway comes together to form an initiative ready for implementation

    • The difference between theories, models, frameworks, and approaches

    • Additional training opportunities and our Implementation Support Specialist certificate program

Course schedule

This part is up to you! After you enroll, you’ll be given access to a new module each week to help spread out the material, but we can provide you with access to all modules if you’d like.

This course does not include any live components. It’s entirely online and asynchronous. This means that you can learn whenever and wherever you want to! You won’t feel any “Zoom fatigue” here.

We’ve synthesized complex concepts into video and audio recordings that are short and easy to digest so you can take action in the real world right away.

➡️ You’ll have access to all course content for 1 year.

See what past course participants are saying

  • “This is a great resource for people in and out of academic settings. Whether you are in the process of developing a new program or seeking to improve an existing program, this course will help you. The video content is polished and you can tell that the instructors are passionate about this type of work and helping you learn and apply the information to your project. The weekly course modules are interactive and use a consistent example throughout the 6 weeks to build on the content each week. This program will help you plan, evaluate, implement, and disseminate your program."

    - John A. Bernhart

  • "This course has been incredibly helpful for our project! There were many times that I thought, 'I wish I knew this before’. It is easily one of the most valuable courses I’ve taken over the last couple of years.”

    - Ilse van Winssen

  • “Designing for Implementation gave me a chance to really think through the WHAT and HOW (implementation strategies) of my project, to see beyond the obvious or most frequently employed dissemination strategies (i.e., academic publications and conference presentations).

    The weekly assignment not only taught me the importance of not only involving stakeholders at every stage in the project, but also continuously revisiting and refining the WHAT and HOW to ensure the sustainability of the initiative.”

    - Priscilla Medeiros

  • "Thank you very much for the wonderful course! I really enjoyed the modules and being able to think through multiple examples. This was fantastic."

    - Laera Gattoni

Ready to join us?

By enrolling, you're providing your consent to be added to TCI’s mailing list. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Benefits of taking this course

We designed this course to answer questions we’ve received from 1000+ implementers across 6 continents.

StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change is open to all individuals in any sector. No previous training is required.

Everyone can benefit from joining!

  • If you’ve already designed your change initiatives, this course can help you enhance specific components in transformative ways.

  • If you’re brand new, it provides a step-by-step guide.

We’ll show you how to:

  • Define WHO needs to change, WHAT they need to do differently, and your WHY

  • Unpack and map your barriers and facilitators to theory

  • Identify HOW you will support people to change by selecting strategies that directly address their barriers and facilitators

We make applying implementation science easy to understand so that you can immediately benefit from using theories, models, and frameworks in your change efforts. You’ll feel more confident, empowered, and less overwhelmed.

Many previous participants have repeatedly taken this course, each time discovering greater value in the concepts as their understanding of implementation planning deepens. There are also many examples where participants used the knowledge and skills they gain in this course to advance their careers or find new jobs.

Implementation Support Specialist Certificate

If you’re interested in becoming a Certified Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist, this course counts towards the Level 1 requirements.

Benefits for organizations

Organizations that send their staff to attend this course experience many benefits.

We’ve seen how staff:

  • Invigorate the way they design change initiatives by using StrategEase

  • Further embrace the StrategEase process to the point of building capacity within their organization, making it “the new way of work”

  • Strengthen their ability to work together by developing a shared understanding of concepts and common terminology

  • Increase their value-add by being guided by implementation science

  • Become more cohesive, communicative, and focused by defining a clear vision and working towards a shared goal

Plus, this course also benefits the teams that are directly implementing these initiatives, and those who are actually asked to change.

We’ve heard from previous participants that engaging in shared sensemaking of course concepts as a team and collectively determining how to move forward using what they’ve learned in this course strengthens how their implementation unfolds.

Ready to join us?

By enrolling, you're providing your consent to be added to TCI’s mailing list. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Course Fees & Discounts

Get access to all course components at the affordable rate of $375 USD or $495 CAD.

StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change is open to all individuals in any sector. Previous training from TCI is not required.

To build a truly theory-informed and evidence-based initiative that maximizes the chances of successful implementation, we recommend completing StrategEase prior to Implementation, Spread, and Scale, our other Level 1 course.

Discounts are available for TCI course participants (Implementation, Spread, and Scale; Embracing Complexity'; Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power), Implementing Change Community members (join anytime!),
full-time students, groups of 3+ employees from the same organization, participants in LMICs,
and Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) members.

Have a discount code?

Free spots available for participants in LMICs

In an effort to support capacity building in applying implementation science in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), we offer 20 spots for eligible professionals to enroll in StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change for free.

Applications are currently closed.

Frequently asked questions

  • StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change is open for enrollment year-round. That means you can join anytime!

    You'll have access to all course modules and materials for 1 year from the date you enroll.

    If you're interested in receiving a certificate, you'll have until end of your course access period (i.e., 1 year) to submit your 6 completed assignments.

    Our course facilitators will be regularly answering any questions you have throughout your 1-year access period as well.

  • Yes, the entire course is online and asynchronous — so it can be completed on your time at your own pace. There are no live learning components.

    We know people don't learn optimally when they have to be online for long periods of time, so we developed this course to help you better grasp the concepts through short video and audio recordings that you can view at your convenience to suit your learning style and needs.

    Each of the 6 modules will be released to you on a weekly basis starting from the date you enroll; however, if you'd like access to the full course right away, just let us know.

  • After several years of teaching the content from Designing for Implementation, supporting more and more implementation initiatives, and listening to feedback from past participants, we refined concepts, updated terminology, and streamlined how we deliver the key components of the course to make it easily digestible and ultra practical.

    We completely restructured the course, recorded all new videos that are shorter in length, added audio-only recordings, incorporated new types of content, revised all assignments and activities, and updated the workbook. We also included new components like videos that guide participants through examples and tools to ensure that participants can take what they learn and immediately apply it to what they're working on.

  • Our course facilitators will respond regularly to your questions on our online discussion boards. This is where you can receive direct support.

  • If you complete all online modules and the 6 assignments, you will receive a certificate in the Foundations of Designing for Implementation (StrategEase).

  • You will have access to all course materials for 1 year. Your access period will start the date you enroll.

    The workbook (which includes all of the theories, models, and frameworks; assignments; suggested readings and additional resources; and the activities) is downloadable, so you'll be able to refer to this information for as long as you'd like.

    This means the only elements you will lose access to at the end of your enrollment term are the online video and audio recordings.

  • We anticipate the time commitment to be about 3 hours per module which includes time for completing the assignment.

    The assignments are about directly relating the content back to your own work; therefore, how much time can be quite variable depending on how much background work you choose to do.

  • Yes, we aim to make our courses accessible to everyone. We offer the following discounts (one per person):

    Please see the “Have a discount code?” section above for how to get your code.

  • StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change is available year-round. You can enroll in the course anytime and begin your 1-year access period.

Still wondering if this course is right for you?

We encourage you to enroll if any of these apply to you:

  • You want to feel more confident in how to approach the work that you're doing and stay motivated to move towards the change you want to see.

  • You want more time instead of getting lost in implementation science literature. You would rather follow a step-by-step roadmap to find the most appropriate theories, models, and frameworks for your work and then focus your time on what’s most relevant.

  • You want to experience growth and have a greater impact.

Have any questions?
Contact us.

Ready to join us?

By enrolling, you're providing your consent to be added to TCI’s mailing list. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Interested in getting a sense of our teaching style?

Enroll in Inspiring Change 2.0, our free mini-course on the foundations of implementation science, or watch the recording of our free virtual workshops on Practical Guidance for Embodying Equity in Implementation!