Research into Action: A Knowledge Translation Initiative
In 2007, the Institute received foundation support to advance the field of Knowledge Translation (KT). This generous gift allows the Institute to fulfill its primary mission to translate public health research into evidence-based policies and programs to enhance the health of communities. This effort is known as Research Into Action: A Knowledge Translation Initiative.
The concept of translating research knowledge into action, knowledge translation , can be traced to the field of agriculture (http://www.csrees.usda.gov/index.html) at the beginning of the 20th Century. Face-to-face communication was used to disseminate agricultural research to the benefit of farmers and ranchers. Over the course of the 20th Century, various disciplines, including engineering, management, and education have developed their own KT models. In the past 20 years, nursing, medicine and public health have followed suit, applying KT to healthcare. By the 1990s, the US Government was adding KT requirements to its research grants as a means of increasing accountability in funded research. Organizations such as the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR)(http://www.ncddr.org/kt/index.html) became early promoters of KT in education. In 2000, the Canadian government formalized KT and evaluation of results in grant-making with the chartering of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/193.html).
The Research into Action project seeks to advance the field of knowledge translation by creating new models for how KT is done. Research into Action's novel KT model places the widely recognized producer-push, user-pull model within a larger continuum of models and assumptions about the nature of knowledge and its production and use.
Project staff will test and use these models to implement research into policy and practice. A systematic measurement tool was designed and utilized to review all 144 currently-funded UT-School of Public Health studies. Studies that passed all indicators in this three-step review process will be eligible for our knowledge translation efforts.
Project staff is committed to sharing information and best practices that result from these efforts to advance the field of KT. Future plans include systematic reviews and translations of scientific content and dissemination of results through a number of communication channels, including the media, scholarly articles, and presentations at conferences.
Please check back regularly for updates on this exciting project. To contact us directly, please email Nickalos A. Rocha, M.P.A., Program Manager.
