Objective: This paper utilizes the experience of PRIME (Programme for Improving Mental health care) to exemplify how implementation science provides key insights and approaches to closing the treatment gap for mental disorders.
Conclusion: The real-world application of strategies described in the implementation science literature, accompanied by use of alternative, rigorous evaluation methods to assess their impact on patient outcomes, can help in closing the mental health treatment gap in disadvantaged populations.
Keywords: health services research; implementation research; low and middle income countries; mental disorders.
© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.