'Knowledge Translation: from Bench to Bedside' is the title of a public lecture organised by the Department of Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences, that will be held on Wednesday, 11 April at 12:00 at the South Auditorium, Faculty of Health Sciences (Mater Dei Hospital Education & Management Block).
The lecture will be delivered by Dr Barbara Campbell, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada.
The lecture will be delivered by Dr Barbara Campbell, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Abstract
Knowledge translation (KT), an evolving field of research, has emerged as a priority for research funders because many decision makers have not, and do not, turn to academic research findings when developing programs or policies. KT involves a multitude of stakeholders and requires effective partnerships between researchers and users of knowledge (CIHR). There exists in North America a desire to reduce the research-to-practice gap by strategically communicating research findings with decision makers to create systems that effectively access, interpret, and apply research.
Knowledge translation includes interaction among health care providers, policy makers, industry, volunteers, patients, and the general public, but also among less commonly targeted groups, such as the research community itself, rural communities, and school-age children. The successful translation of health promotion and prevention initiatives is critical for improving health outcomes and the sustainability of populations living in communities. Therefore, by engaging community members and policy/program key stakeholders in knowledge creation and knowledge translation, important steps toward changing health and social outcomes among young people may help to reduce the escalating incidence and early onset of chronic illness that impact Canadians.
The purpose of this doctoral study was to theoretically compare participatory action research (PAR), the approach used to generate the knowledge concerning child health, with the Ottawa model of Research Use (OMRU), an implementation approach that translates existing research in response to a problem. This contextual study describes how I engaged with members of a rural coastal community on Prince Edward Island to explore their local knowledge, link it with existing research on children, and then working with the community to consider new strategies to improve the health of their children.
Based on extant knowledge translation and PAR literature and the emergent knowledge generated through the community engagement process, a graphical representation of the comparative process emerged to depict this two stage research process reflecting a potential for linking PAR and OMRU as they informed each other. The conceptual framework generated through this work contends that, in future research studies, one could conceivably engage PAR as the method to generate knowledge and OMRU as the method to translate that knowledge.
Dr Campbell will give another public lecture entitled 'Nursing Leadership in Primary Health Care Context', on 10 April.
Dr Barbara Campbell is the Director of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), an Associate Professor with the UPEI School of Nursing and an Adjunct Professor with the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Barb has co-authored 24 peer reviewed publications, 1 book, 40 presentations and 28 invited international talks. She is a member of the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada (SWAAC), a volunteer with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and a former Senator on the UPEI Board of Governors. Barb qualified as a registered nurse from the Prince Edward Island School of Nursing and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of New Brunswick, a Master's degree from Dalhousie University and a PhD from the University of Calgary with a thesis entitled ' Participatory Action Research: Knowledge Translation of Children’s Health in a Rural Community'. Her principal research interests include knowledge translation, digital literacies and participatory action research.