Objective : The aim of this scoping review was to investigate the published literature on the use of champions to implement collaborative practices in healthcare.

Methods : A systematic review of the literature was conducted, and PubMed and Embase were screened for the period of 01.2000—02.2025. Two pairs of researchers conducted the articles selection. Three researchers extracted the data, and two researchers analyzed the data regarding the type of projects involving local champions, their focus in terms of collaborative practices and as well as the facilitators and barriers local champions face in implementing collaborative practice.

Results : From 1768 articles, 41 were included and underwent full data extraction. Most articles were monocentric, qualitative and half of them had a clear focus on the effects of championing to implement collaborative practices. Champions covered a variety of professions and were mainly integrated in multi-professional implementation teams. Descriptions of champions’ characteristics, training, roles and responsibilities were sparse and vague. Collaborative practices were regularly integrated in a broader project and were not the implementation’s focus. Conceptual frameworks to guide implementation efforts were used in less than a third of the included articles. Most enabling and disabling factors were related to the internal organizational context. Factors such as innovation’s fit or partnerships and collaborations influencing the implementation were mostly reported as change facilitators.

Conclusion : Our results highlight that although champions are recognized for their ability to drive change, little is known about how they are selected, trained, and positioned within institutions and how effective they are in implementing changes in collaborative practices. Use of a theoretical framework to guide the implementation process may help define outcome measures as well as better clarify the factors facilitating or impending such process.