Context at Scale
Unpacking adaptations, readiness, and sustainability.
🗓️ Enrollment open year-round
💻 100% Online
⏱️ Self-paced
📄 Download our PDF overview
You know context matters. But what can you do about it?
Context is one of the most challenging aspects of implementation
If you’re supporting implementation or scaling across multiple different sites, you’re likely encountering contextual challenges—some of the largest obstacles to enacting change.
Each setting might have different contextual barriers and facilitators, such as shifting leadership priorities and competing demands. These contextual factors shape fit and readiness, influence sustainability, and determine whether implementation efforts gain traction or stall.
How can you move forward strategically to achieve your outcomes?
Context at Scale is part of our Level 2 training offerings, which explore the relational aspects of creating change and build advanced skills to support implementation.
This course focuses on understanding and addressing context across the full lifespan of implementation and scale.
You’ll examine context as you determine fit, assess and address readiness, implement, and as you plan for and enact sustainability. Because contextual shifts often require us to make adaptations, you’ll explore how to plan for and track adaptations in a structured, intentional way.
We also clarify adjacent topics that often create confusion, including how to consider context in an implementation support role, what it truly means to scale (such as scaling up, scaling out, and scaling deep) and the role of de-implementation.
But understanding context is only part of the equation.
This is a highly practical course. You’ll not only learn how to assess context, but also how to identify and apply strategies to address the contextual factors most relevant to your initiative.
Instead of reacting to contextual challenges as they emerge, you’ll learn how to anticipate them, select strategies to address what you can influence, and position your initiative for success across diverse settings.
Along the way, you’ll also gain clarity on which aspects of context are within your control and which aren’t, so you can focus your energy where it’ll have the greatest impact.
This course is for you if…
You’re supporting implementation or scaling across multiple sites and want structured, practical ways to assess and address context and plan for adaptations.
You already have a strong foundation in implementation science, are generally familiar with context assessment, and are ready to go deeper into understanding and navigating context.
You want to proactively plan for sustainability and scale, rather than reactively responding to contextual challenges impeding these processes.
⚠️ Context at Scale is an advanced course
It’s designed for people who are actively implementing or supporting implementation efforts. We assume participants are familiar with key implementation theories, models, and frameworks and have experience applying them in real-world settings.
Completion of our Level 1 courses, StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change and Implementation, Spread, and Scale, is strongly recommended before enrolling in this course, especially if you’re earlier in your learning journey or primarily engaging with implementation science in an academic context.
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 change strategies that address barriers and facilitators
Plan for sustainability from the very beginning
Module Overview
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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
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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
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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
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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
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How change strategies are related to barriers and facilitators
The different purposes change strategies can serve
Considerations to make when enacting change strategies
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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
⚙️ 10+ TCI-developed resources to support your work, including:
Expert guidance for assessing contextual factors and making sense of barriers and facilitators across implementation, sustainability, and scale
Map2Adapt tracking template to help you systematically track and learn from adaptations
Actionable tips for considering the potential impacts of adaptations, even when resources are limited
A practical overview of implementation support models that shows different ways organizations can strengthen and advance implementation
Plus… You’ll get access to the NEW StrategEase tool (in beta) before it’s publicly available!
What is included in this course?
🎥 27 informative videos led by your instructors, Drs. Julia Moore and Sobia Khan
🎙️ 8 podcasts featuring deeper discussions of key topics and practical insights from our work
📝 Interactive activities to practice and reinforce what you’ve learned
📎 PDF workbooks with overviews of course concepts
📖 Self-reflective assignments to translate learning into action within your own change initiative
📚 Readings and resources recommended by our expert team
💬 Direct communication with us to answer your questions as you move through the content
👥 Networking opportunities with other course participants
🎟️ Membership in the Implementing Change Community (ICC) during your 1-year course access period, which means you can join:
Monthly virtual Open Support sessions with course developers where you can ask any questions live!
A dedicated space for each course you’re enrolled in to connect with other course participants
🎓 Certificate of completion after successfully completing the course and assignments
📒 Bonus: An easy-to-reference glossary of key terms from the course
🗓 Access to all course materials for 1 year so you can go back and review what you’ve learned as needed
We believe in
competency-based learning.
This table shows which implementation support core competencies and functions are relevant in this course.
Learn more about TCI's Implementation Support Core Competencies and Functions.
Hover over each item to view its definition.
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.”
“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.”
Ready to join us?
By enrolling, you're providing your consent to be added to TCI’s mailing list. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Free StrategEase 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.
Course schedule
This part is up to you! You’ll have access to all modules right after you enroll, so you can move through the content at a pace that works best for you.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Course discounts & eligibility
Discounts are available for past participants of TCI’s paid courses, groups of 3+, full-time students, Indigenous peoples and organizations, participants in LMICs, Implementing Change Community members, and Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) members.
Free spots for participants in LMICs
In an effort to support capacity building in applying implementation science in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), we offer 40 free spots for eligible professionals to enroll in one of our courses twice per year.
We'll open up applications for these spots again in May 2026. Please check back then or join our mailing list to be notified.
Frequently asked questions
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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, so you can move through the content on your own schedule.
If you’re interested in receiving a certificate of completion, you’ll have until the end of your 1-year course access period to submit your completed assignments.
Our course facilitators will be regularly answering any questions you have throughout your 1-year access period as well.
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Yes, the entire course is online and asynchronous, so it can be completed at a pace that works best for you. 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.
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If you finish all modules and the 6 assignments prior to the end of your 1-year course access period, you’ll receive a certificate of completion.
In addition, consider pursuing our Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist certification to add more tools to your implementation toolbox!
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The time commitment varies, but we estimate each module takes 4-8 hours to complete, which includes time spent on assignments.
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.
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You’ll have access to all course content for 1 year starting from the date you enroll.
Before your access ends, we encourage you to revisit the content and download the available course materials.
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Our course facilitators respond regularly to questions posted in the comment sections of the course. This is where you can receive direct support.
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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.
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Yes, we aim to make our courses accessible to everyone. We offer the following discounts (one per person):
20% off for past participants of TCI’s paid courses
20% off for members of the Implementing Change Community (Join anytime!)
20% off for groups of 3+ (additional discounts are available for large groups)
20% off for Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) members
30% off for full-time students
70% off for individuals in low- and middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank
Please see the “Have a discount code?” section above for how to get your code.
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.
Looking for an easy way to share info about this course?
Download this handy PDF—it includes learning objectives, course highlights, and a module overview. Perfect for sharing with your team!
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!
