Beyond impact factors: making your research count through better translation

Clinical and Public Health Seminar April 2014

Associate Professor Harriet HiscockCentre for Community Child Health

Murdoch Childrens Research InstituteThe Royal Children's Hospital

What is research translation or translational research??

Terminology

• Research translation• Knowledge transfer• Knowledge broker• Knowledge transfer and exchange• Knowledge exchange• Knowledge diffusion

Knowledge exchange: ‘the interaction between decision makers and researchers that results in mutual learning through the process of planning, producing, disseminating and applying existing or new research in decision making.’

-Canadian Healthy Services Research Foundation

Knowledge transfer: ‘the two way flow and uptake of ideas between the University of Melbourne and the broader community.’ (University of Melbourne)

‘the process through which one unit (eg group, department or division) is affected by the experience of another’ (Argote and Ingram, 1999)

Knowledge transfer and exchange: ‘An interactive process involving the interchange of knowledge between research users and research producers’ (Kiefer et al, 2005)

Difficulty in translating research findings• Researchers, policy makers and clinicians

– Have different agendas– Have different time frames– Use different language– Appeal to different constituencies

• Yet all have common goal of wanting to improve outcomes for children and families

Researchers and practitioners• Researchers and practitioners live in different

worlds– Researchers - academic focus, peer review– Practitioners - want to do the right thing for the

patient in front of them• Practitioners do not read peer reviewed journals• Researchers don’t work in community settings

caring for patients

Researchers• Tend to be narrowly focused• Obtain information from peer reviewed journals

and academic meetings• May have difficulty presenting technical or

complex data in terms that non-scientists can readily grasp

• Long term focus - takes a long time to do quality research

Practitioners• Broad focus - holistic view of child in context of

family and community• Challenge to keep up to date - CME taps into

variety of sources and activities• Need to understand relevance of research and

policy to their practice and needs of patients• Operate in the ‘here and now’ - change in

practice has immediate consequences

Policymakers

• More broadly focused in their thinking• Obtain information from media, public

opinion• Worry about pressure groups and sectional

interests• Political imperative - short term benefits

Models of translation

P.Szilagyi. Translational Research and Pediatrics. Academic Pediatrics ; 9, 71-80

Knowledge to action cycle

Knowledge Funnel: inquiry, synthesis and tools (developed with end users)

Action cycle (critical element) - adapting knowledge to local context-testing the knowledge in a range of contexts to determine the most effective approach.

Graham, I.D. et al. (2007) Lost in knowledge translation: Time for a map, pp. 13–24,http://www.chsrf.ca/publicationsandresources/pastseries/insightandaction/07-07-01/798756b3-87af-4ede-9320-1880f32c790e.aspx

Communications strategy: the how

Knowledge exchange/transfer

Key Stakeholder committees: the who

The Toolkit3 steps1. Brief research over view2. Identify stakeholders

- Power & Impact matrix

3. Design stakeholder engagement - levels of engagement - advisory vs reference groups

Name of Stakeholder Sector Value to process/role Prioritising* Level of Commitment Constraints / Limitations

Organisation, group or individual

Government (Local, State, Federal), Health (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary), Not-for-Profit, Community, Education, Research, Professional Bodies e.g. RASP, Business, Media, etc

Expertise/knowledgeFunding/ResourcesInfluence/LeadershipConsumer VoiceAdvocate/ChampionTechnologyUnderrepresented

See Power & ImpactMatrix. Do you need to Satisfy, Actively Engage, Monitor or Inform?

Support or Oppose the research, to what extent and why?

Need funds to participate, lack of personnel, political or other barriers

Internal Stakeholders MCRI, RCH, Uni Melb

External Stakeholders

Identifying Stakeholders

High power SatisfyOpinion formers/Policy makers. Keep them satisfied with what is happening and review your analysis of their position regularly.

Actively Engage*Key stakeholders who should be fully engaged through full communication and consultation.

Low power MonitorThis group may be ignored if time and resources are stretched.

InformRecipients of research such as Patients often fall into this category. It may be helpful to take steps to increase their influence by organising them into groups or taking active consultative work.

Low impact/stake holding High impact/stake holding

Power & Impact Matrix

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform www.berr.gov.uk, http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file40647.pdf

Name of Stakeholder

Potential level of Engagement*The level of engagement is likely to change at the different stages of the project. Engagement Method

Organisation, group or individual

a. Information givingb. Information gatheringc. Consultation d. Participatione. Collaboration

a. Newsletters, fact-sheets, website, publications, one-to-one communication via phone or email, education modules etc

b. One-to-one interviews, questionnaires, focus groupc. Consultation papers, public meetingsd. Research Participants, e. Advisory group, Research team, Steering committee

Setting up the project

Running the project

Translation of findings

Stakeholder engagement

Translation Toolkit• Free resource available online• http://www.mcri.edu.au/research/core-faciliti

es/clinical-research-development-office/other-research-resources/