DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH

Knowledge translation to support the dissemination and implementation of MRC research on public health and health services policy

Background

This three-year project originally focussed on the activities of intramural MRC researchers and Units. By 2008 however, the emphasis on knowledge translation in the UK had changed hugely since the original application was submitted. The Cooksey and Tooke reviews had highlighted concerns surrounding gaps in the translation of research based knowledge into health and economic benefits. More crucially, with the inception of the NIHR, the MRC will no longer be funding 'applied' health services and public health research. Against this background, we sought and received permission from the PHSRN Board to broaden the scope of the project. This revised phase explored what steps health services and public health researchers working across the UK were taking to disseminate the findings of their research.

Findings

Researchers appear committed to disseminating the findings of their work, but any activity that is undertaken beyond academic publication is done so in an ad hoc fashion. There is some evidence that access to dissemination advice and support and undertaking activity that goes beyond publishing academic journal articles may generate more policy interactions. However, this study suggested that access to such advice and support was lacking at an institutional level and that provision by funders can be variable.

Researchers need greater and clearer guidance on how best to plan, resource, and facilitate their dissemination activities. There are currently a number of theoretically-informed frameworks available to researchers that could be used to help guide their dissemination planning and activity. Given the current emphasis on enhancing the uptake of knowledge about the effects of interventions into routine practice, funders could be making and advocating more systematic use of such conceptual frameworks in the planning of research dissemination .

Conducted by: Paul Wilson¹

, Mark Petticrew², Mike Calnan³, Irwin Nazareth⁴

1. Centre for Reviews and Dissemination; 2. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; 3. University of Kent; 4. MRC General Practice Research Framework

Publications

Wilson PM, Petticrew M, Calnan M, Nazareth I. Disseminating research findings: what should researchers do? A systematic scoping review of conceptual frameworks. Implement Sci. 2010; 5:91

Wilson PM, Petticrew M, Calnan M, Nazareth I. Does dissemination extend beyond publication: a survey of a cross section of public funded research in the UK. Implement Sci. 2010;5(1):61

Wilson PM, Petticrew M, Calnan M, Nazareth I. Effects of a financial incentive on health researchers' response to an online survey: a randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2010;12(2):e13

Wilson PM, Petticrew M, Calnan MW, Nazareth I. Why promote the findings of single research studies? BMJ. 2008; 336(7646):722

Workshops

Wilson PM. Knowledge translation to support the dissemination and implementation of MRC research on public health and health services policy: a workshop. London. February 2008

Presentations

Wilson PM. Knowledge translation to support the dissemination and implementation of MRC research on public health and health services policy. MRC PHSRN Away Day. London. April 2007

Funding

This project was funded by the MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network (Ref: PHSRN 11).

Status: Completed