In the realm of medical research, the concept of knowledge translation (KT) is pivotal, yet often undervalued. At its core, KT is the process of transforming research findings into actionable practices. It’s about ensuring that the valuable insights gleaned from research reach and are utilized by those who need them most, such as clinicians, patients, researchers, and policymakers. These individuals are referred to as Knowledge Users. KT has various synonyms like knowledge mobilization, exchange, or transfer, but regardless of the term used, is anchored in four fundamental steps: knowledge synthesis, dissemination, implementation, and impact assessment.
The waste of unseen research
Consider this analogy: if a tree falls in a forest with no one around, does it make a sound? Similarly, if a study is published but remains unread, does it impact the medical field? The answer, quite simply, is no.
With the ever-increasing number of research articles published per year, ensuring that your research has impact is a challenge. Impact results not only from the novelty of the findings, but also deliberate action to have the research reach and then influence your intended knowledge users. The importance of KT is why (most?) granting agencies require KT plans. So what are the actionable steps of KT at the most core level.
Knowledge Synthesis: The Starting Point
Knowledge synthesis is the initial step where the importance and relevance of information are determined. The type of study, as well as certainty of evidence, will help determine the scope (and audience) of your KT plan. Publishing a small pilot study? Maybe your KT plan is to engage researchers in your field through a conference presentation. Creating a guideline for primary care physicians to improve preventative health practices? This is much more involved and involves engaging multiple stakeholders and utilizing multiple KT strategies to ensure maximal reach and engagement with frontline clinicians. Often, the knowledge synthesis step involves a critical appraisal of evidence, potentially employing synthesis techniques like systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMA).
Dissemination: Reaching the Intended Audience
Traditional reliance on academic publications for dissemination of research findings often falls short, as it limits the reach to a broader audience (including clinicians, allied health, policy makers, and even researchers). This gap results in delayed knowledge transfer to frontline clinicians. With the growth of social media (for better and for worse!), new opportunities to reach large numbers of clinicians in online communities of practice (like the #FOAMed community) are available. Additionally, using different mediums to disseminate results of studies (e.g. videos, infographics) may increase engagement and the ability to disseminate key information.
Implementation: Beyond Awareness
Merely being aware of research findings is necessary, but not sufficient, to change behaviors. Traditional ‘Diffusion Theory’ suggests KT is a passive process where new research eventually reaches the clinicians that need it. Contemporary thinking views dissemination of new research as an active, deliberate, and evidence based endeavor. This sometimes involves engaging knowledge users in study design, a process known as integrated knowledge translation (iKT). This is just one of many strategies to influence behaviors’ of your intended knowledge user. Implementation science is broad and complex topic, and there are multiple theories and evidence-based approaches you can use to help promote a positive and sustained change in behavior.
Impact Assessment: Measuring Real-World Effects
The final step in KT is to quantify the impact of your interventions – this ensures that the research is having the intended effect on the ultimate knowledge users. Traditionally, the impact of research has been gauged through citation metrics. However, these don’t fully capture the practical application of research in clinical settings. Alternative metrics like Altmetrics (for social media and media engagement) and tools like scite.ai (smart citations) offer different perspectives but also have limitations.
Ultimately, impact refers to research changing outcomes (with outcome being a loosely defined term not only referring to health outcomes!). Is the research being done improving health outcomes? Is it changing policy? Is it resulting in new research studies? These are are all examples of impact. Quantifying the impact of research can be difficult, which is why this last step is sometimes forgotten or omitted.
Knowledge Translation is an ongoing process
This introduction to KT is just the beginning of a broader conversation we aim to foster through this blog. In fact, this blog itself represents an effort to enhance KT in the fields of research methods and KT itself (meta, right?). We invite you to join us in this journey, share your insights, and support the continuous improvement of KT in medical research.
For more reading on Knowledge Translation (and resources to plan great KT initiatives) check out the excellent resources produced by the team at SickKids . They also have an awesome course (at the same link) for clinicians wanting to really dive deep into KT.