Do knowledge translation (KT) plans help to structure KT practices?

Tchameni Ngamo et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2016) 14:46 DOI 10.1186/s12961-016-0118-z RESEARCH Open Access Do knowledge translation (KT) plans help to structure KT practices? Salomon Tchameni Ngamo1,3*, Karine Souffez1,3, Catherine Lord2,3 and Christian Dagenais3 Abstract Background: A knowledge translation (KT) planning template is a roadmap laying out the core elements to be considered when structuring the implementation of KT activities by researchers and practitioners. Since 2010, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ; Québec Public Health Institute) has provided tools and guidance to in-house project teams to help them develop KT plans. This study sought to identify the dimensions included in those plans and which ones were integrated and how. The results will be of interest to funding agencies and scientific organizations that provide frameworks for KT planning. Methods: The operationalization of KT planning dimensions was assessed in a mixed methods case study of 14 projects developed at the INSPQ between 2010 and 2013. All plans were assessed (rated) using an analytical tool developed for this study and data from interviews with the planning coordinators. The analytical tool and interview guide were based on eight core KT dimensions identified in the literature. Results: Analysis of the plans and interviews revealed that the dimensions best integrated into the KT plans were ‘analysis of the context (barriers and facilitators) and of users’ needs’, ‘knowledge to be translated’, ‘KT partners’, ‘KT strategies’ and, to a lesser extent, ‘overall KT approach’. The least well integrated dimensions were ‘knowledge about knowledge users’, ‘KT process evaluation’ and ‘resources’. Conclusions: While the planning coordinators asserted that a plan did not need to include all the dimensions to ensure its quality and success, nevertheless the dimensions that received less attention might have been better incorporated if they had been supported with more instruments related to those dimensions and sustained methodological guidance. Overall, KT planning templates appear to be an appreciated mechanism for supporting KT reflexive practices. Based on this study and our experience, we recommend using KT plans cautiously when assessing project efficacy and funding. Keywords: Knowledge translation, Plans, Guidance, Scientific process Background According to studies, few public health researchers and practitioners use an explicit framework when engaging in knowledge translation (KT) [1–4]. A KT planning template is a roadmap laying out the core elements to be considered when structuring the implementation of KT activities by researchers and practitioners. The various actors involved in KT processes usually operate intuitively, engaging in ad hoc activities according * Correspondence: 1 Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Montreal, Canada 3 Équipe de Recherche en Partenariat sur le Transfert des Connaissances (RENARD, FRQ-SC) [Knowledge Translation Research Partnership Team], Université de Montreal, Montreal, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article to their convictions and availability. Both the Institute for Work and Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have invested considerable effort into providing guidance to researchers on KT practices and planning [5–8]. Growing numbers of funding agencies are also making KT plans a condition for funding [9]. A survey of 33 health research funding agencies that were proactive in promoting and supporting KT found that 73 % of them required KT plans [10]. Although few scientific studies have been conducted on KT plans, and fewer still on their impacts, the organizations and researchers that have implemented them report numerous benefits. Specifically, such plans can map out KT practices more © 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Tchameni Ngamo et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2016) 14:46 clearly, ensure that KT is integrated into project management at an early stage, and foster the legitimacy and recognition of KT activities throughout the research process. They are also useful for taking users’ needs into account throughout the KT process, planning interactions with users, and formulating clear messages for specific audiences to optimize policy impacts and practice changes. There is widespread agreement in the scientific literature on the importance of planning KT because of the complexity of the process [7, 11]. The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ; Québec Public Health Institute) is a major public health reference and expertise centre, with more than 600 employees. Its mandate includes producing and translating scientific knowledge and ensuring its dissemination in accessible language that supports decision-makers, practitioners and various partners in their initiatives to address the determinants of population health [12]. The INSPQ is part of a growing movement of organizations that see KT planning templates as useful tools for planning, leading, structuring and even evaluating KT. With this in mind, in 2010, it launched an organization-wide project to systematize its KT practices by means of KT plans. Twenty-two project teams were provided with sustained, customized guidance and reference tools to develop KT plans [13]. The guidance occurred at the team’s request. In the end, there were three to five customized guidance meetings provided along the KT process by the person in charge of KT advising at INSPQ. The team reflected on the key dimensions of their KT plan with counselling and a tool appropriation effort. The teams were made up of researchers and research assistants/coordinators and were asked to reflect on the most useful approaches to foster use of their knowledge (in terms of context, potential users, connections to be made with users, etc.) no matter at which stages they were in their project. The adviser had no control on the choices made by the team in the end since he acted as a guide. After more than 4 years of implementing and using KT plans, a study was undertaken to determine whether the resulting KT plans were found helpful by their users in improving the INSPQ KT processes. The conceptual framework underpinning this study was drawn from various sources. It includes the key KT dimensions identified in the INSPQ’s refe (...truncated)