Anastasia A. Mallidou1 PhD & Grace Mickelson2 MA, RN 1Assistant
Professor, School of Nursing, University of Victoria; and Co-leader in the KTA Team 2Grace Mickelson, Corporate Director, Academic Development, Provincial Health Services Authority, British Columbia; and Co-leader in the KTA Team.
Background
Main Findings
Conclusions & Implications
The Innovative Nursing Services & Practice Informed by Research & Evaluation Network (InspireNet) is a province-wide network in British Columbia, Canada. The Knowledge to Action (KTA) Team works in alignment with InspireNet’s mission and vision (for details: http://www.inspirenet.ca/about) to: • Mobilize and use knowledge, based on nursing health services research findings, to achieve healthcare innovative and advance service delivery • Improve exchange of knowledge among researchers, students, educators, clinicians, and decision/policy-makers • Provide leadership in an evolving evidence-based culture of nursing health services delivery in BC The KTA Team is open to all InspireNet members who are interested in learning more about knowledge translation (KT) and would like to connect and contribute via our electronic Community of Practice (eCoP).
Knowledge translation (KT) is a relatively new area of research and practice. What we do know (and not know) so far is: Facts Knowledge translation has emerged out of a rich interdisciplinary mix of theories and methods (Kitson & Bisby, 2008) Knowledge uptake and research use among the poorest populations is at least 50% less than among the richest populations within each country (Tugwell et al., 2006) Using the BARRIERS scale consistent over time and across geographic locations barriers were identified related to setting and presentation of research findings (Kajermo et al., 2010) Ways to develop EBP Collaborative endeavor, especially in the area of health and socioeconomic sciences, is important to develop evidence-based policies (European Commission, 2010) Clarification of definitions of knowledge translation, knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, research utilization, implementation, diffusion, and dissemination (Graham et al., 2006) Adoption of different web 2.0 tools by researchers to disseminate knowledge, connect individuals, facilitate open scientific practices, to change routine clinical practices, and modify researchers’ behaviors; all the above have significant implications for researchers themselves, institutions, librarians, and funding agencies (Research Information Network, 2010). Timid steps toward adoption and replacement of old knowledge management systems with new technology (e.g., wikis) have started to explore the possibilities (Ponti et al., 2010) Use of knowledge brokering as a model (among many others) that facilitates the process of knowledge transferring into practice (Ward et al., 2009) Synthesize evidence (e.g., systematic reviews) as a basic unit of knowledge translation (Institute of Health Economics, 2008). Individuals & Organization Knowledge users need to adapt and contextualize knowledge for local use (Harrison et al., 2009) Widespread recognition of evidence (e.g., guidelines) implementation requires whole system change involving both the individual and the organization (Kitson et al., 2008). KT activities and interventions need to shift attention from individual users to organizational and environmental context for change (Harrison et al., 2009) Do not know… How healthcare systems will develop innovative ways for sharing knowledge. For successful implementation of knowledge utilization strategies within complex health systems, changes are needed into structures, principles and processes (Birdsell & Omelchuk, 2006) How policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders will make this process more effective (Kitson & Bisby, 2008).
There is increased interest among researchers, funding agencies, and governments in Canada and around the world focusing on research findings implementation in the health sector. Support to research, innovation and KT activities can improve patient, healthcare provider, and system outcomes; advance health and wellbeing of citizens; and create health-related social and economic benefits for nations. The first step toward knowledge translation, research use, and exchange activities for clinicians and researchers is literacy of new technology and ways to synthesize primary studies (e.g., systematic reviews).
Purpose The primary purpose of the KTA Team eCoP is to lead and evolve the KT approach and capabilities of InspireNet. Specifically, our objectives are to: • Develop a KT strategy based on theory and best practices, and implement and evaluate KT activities that flow from this strategy • Identify emerging KT opportunities and priorities • Leverage InspireNet’s infrastructure, leadership and relationships to promote exchange and application of nursing health services knowledge • Facilitate coordination of KT activities across InspireNet’s teams Aligned with the above objectives, we reviewed the literature to inform our KT strategies and activities. This study was undertaken to: • Explore the known and not known areas of the KT field • Identify promising KT activities • Inform KT priorities for our eCoP and the network
Methods The KTA Core Team members add interesting material (e.g., publications) related to the KT field. As a result, the KTA team has a growing KT reference list available on its eCoP (n=49). A large number of these publications were reviewed for the purpose of this poster. Critical points of the literature review related to healthcare providers, organizations, policy/decision-makers, funding agencies, and researchers were summarized and presented in the Findings section.
References Birdsell, J., & Omelchuk, K. (2006). Using health research in Western Canada: A scan and assessment of capacity. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. European Commission, EC. (2010). Communicating research for evidence-based policymaking. A practical guide for researchers in socio-economic sciences and humanities (Vol. EUR 24230, pp. 56). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Graham, I., Logan, J., Harrison, M., Straus, S., Tetroe, J., Caswell, W., & Robinson, N. (2006). Lost in knowledge translation: Time for a map? Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 26(1), 13-24. Harrison, M., Graham, I., & Fervers, B. (2009). Adapting knowledge to a local context. In S. Straus, J. Tetroe & I. D. Graham (Eds.), Knowledge translation in health care: Moving from evidence to practice (pp. 73-82). West Sussex, UK: Willey-Blackwell Publishing. Institute of Health Economics (2008) Effective dissemination of findings from research. IHE Report. Alberta: Canada www.ihe.ca Kajermo, K., Bostrom, A.-M., Thompson, D., Hutchinson, A., Estabrooks, C., & Wallin, L. (2010). The BARRIERS scale - the barriers to research utilization scale: A systematic review. Implementation Science, 5(1), 32. Kitson A, Rycroft-Malone J, Harvey G, McCormack B, Seers K & Titchen A (2008) Evaluating the successful implementation of evidence into practice using the PARiHS framework: Theoretical and practical challenges. Implementation Science, 3:1. Kitson A, Bisby M (2008) Speeding up the spread: Putting KT research into practice and developing an integrated KT collaborative research agenda. Background Paper prepared for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Ponti, M., Renzi, S., & Klobas, J. (2010). A wiki for social workers in a local health authority: An actornetwork analysis and seed design. Working Paper No. 35. Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics. Milan, Italy. Retrieved from http://www.dondena.unibocconi.it/wp35 Research Information Network, R. (2010). If you build it, will they come? How researchers perceive and use web 2.0. London, UK: Research Information Network. Tugwell, P., Robinson, V., Grimshaw, J., & Santesso, N. (2006). Systematic reviews and knowledge translation. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 84, 643-651. Ward, V., House, A., & Hamer, S. (2009). Knowledge brokering: Exploring the process of transferring knowledge into action. BMC Health Services Research, 9(12), 12-17.
Acknowledgements We acknowledge every single KTA Team member’s contribution to the reference list as well as their comments on the publications.
Further Information Anastasia A. Mallidou: mallidou@uvic.ca & Grace Mickelson: gmickelson@phsa.ca