Knowledge translation (KT) is perhaps an overused term. It reportedly has around 90
synonyms and a wide range of definitions [
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
]. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) define KT as “the exchange, synthesis
and ethically sound application of knowledge—within a complex system of interactions
among researchers and users—to accelerate the capture of the benefits of research
for society through improved health, more effective services and products, and a strengthened
health care system” [
[5]
]. Straus et al. [
[1]
] prefer to describe KT as “the methods for closing the gaps from knowledge to practice.”
This has an appealing directness. In the United Kingdom, and in other jurisdictions,
the investigation of KT is rather prosaically known as “implementation research” [
[1]
]. This nicely captures the intent of most KT—to ensure that research findings are
implemented appropriately and for the net benefit of patients and the public. KT has
been the subject of a great deal of investment in several countries. Research funding
agencies, such as the UK National Health Service have created new expectations of
researchers, such as the recent trend to require lodgment of publications in digital
repositories. This has led to a number of national governments have supported free
access to the Cochrane Library. In Canada, the federal government has wavered on the
latter; however, the CIHR has provided funding for the Canadian Cochrane Center, supported
a number of integrated KT activities (for instance, the partnerships for Health System
Improvement competition), provided required specification of end-of-grant KT, and
has sponsored a number of policy development forums [
6
,
7
].To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Defining knowledge translation.CMAJ. 2009; 181: 165-168
- The knowledge-to-action cycle: identifying the gaps.CMAJ. 2010; 182: E73-E77
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Majumdar SR. Successful high-quality knowledge translation research: three case studies.
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Gagnon M. Knowledge Dissemination and Exchange.
Bhattacharyya OK, Estey EA, Zwarenstein M. Methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge translation interventions: a primer for researchers and health care managers.
- (Available at) (Assessed April 2010)
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- (Available at)
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 2,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
