Data Sheet 1_What is improvement science, and what makes it different? An outline of the field and its frontiers.pdf

Improvement science has emerged as an interdisciplinary field of enquiry to provide methodological and scientific rigour to the practice and study of improvements in healthcare, and with contributions from a wide range of stakeholders and perspectives. However, compared to more well-established health-related sciences, the science of improvement remains in relative infancy. Whilst the improvement community has grown considerably, there is no existing articulation of the scope of what matters to the health and social care improvement community, and how this aligns to the enquiries of the field of improvement science. This paper aims to outline key areas of interest to the improvement community, and to propose distinguishing features of improvement science that help differentiate it from other areas of enquiry. Two over-arching research questions are identified, along with ten associated areas of enquiry which are grouped into three clusters: (1) improvement in practice, (2) aligning improvement efforts and (3) advancing the contribution of the improvement community. Four features that collectively define and distinguish the field of improvement science are proposed. The outline of the improvement landscape provides a common language for the diverse improvement community, supporting people to transcend disciplinary interests and constraints, and to consider how, collectively, we can improve health and care. Others are invited to refine and advance mapping of the improvement landscape by identifying gaps and increasing contributions from diverse perspectives.

改善科学（Improvement Science）作为一门跨学科研究领域应运而生，旨在为医疗保健领域的改善实践与研究提供方法论支撑与科学严谨性，并吸纳了广泛利益相关方与多元视角的贡献。然而，相较于更为成熟的健康相关学科，改善科学仍处于相对起步的发展阶段。尽管改善社群已发展壮大，但目前尚未明确界定健康与社会照护改善社群所关注的范畴，以及该范畴如何与改善科学领域的研究议题相契合。本研究旨在梳理改善社群的核心关注领域，并提出可帮助改善科学区别于其他研究领域的标志性特征。本研究确立了两项总体研究问题，以及与之相关的十项研究领域，这些领域被划分为三大集群：(1) 实践中的改善；(2) 协调改善行动；(3) 提升改善社群的贡献价值。研究同时提出了四项共同界定并区分改善科学领域的核心特征。本研究对改善领域格局的梳理，可为多元的改善社群提供统一的话语体系，助力参与者突破学科兴趣与局限的桎梏，共同思考如何推进健康与照护领域的改善工作。本研究诚邀学界同仁通过识别研究空白、吸纳更多元视角的贡献，来完善并拓展对改善领域格局的梳理工作。