EQUIMAP - EQUity-focused Implementation Measurement and Assessment of Policies

This adaptation guide was developed because there are very limited tools and resources available for understanding policy implementation beyond traditional measures of fidelity and compliance (i.e., how well was this policy adhered to?) Further, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a heavy emphasis was placed on issues of health equity and social justice by the public and those working in public health. Although this was well-intentioned, the accelerated focus on health equity and publications on this topic unintentionally overshadowed and potentially diluted the work of health equity scholars and experts. As such, we conducted a 2-year policy implementation measurement development study, grounded in frameworks developed by health equity and implementation science scholars, to better understand how policies in schools may be implemented to address inequities in health behavior. As a result, survey tools were created for policy practitioners (i.e., teachers, staff, administrators) and policy recipients (i.e., students, parents/caregivers) to better answer questions related to how and whether policies are implemented well. This guide was created to enhance dissemination of these tools and minimize the need to “reinvent the wheel” so that those wishing to evaluate policies can focus on adaptation and refinement of existing tools, carefully developed and tested with policy practitioners and recipients.