Knowledge Brokers: Defining the Role

By Stephanie Glegg & Alison Hoens

Published in

KnowledgeNudge

3 min readMay 24, 2017

“There is a bigger picture, just step back from the canvas.” — *Ilona Simone* *• Image source:* https://unsplash.com/@squared_one

Life on the front lines of health care is messy. As knowledge brokers (KBs), we often get submerged in a sea of detail and pulled in multiple directions by the different groups we work with. As such, defining our role is important to make sure that our work targets the needs, expectations and goals of both our stakeholders and ourselves.

Knowledge brokers are increasingly popular as a means of moving evidence into action within health care — but our roles are often misunderstood. Our article introduces The Role Model for Knowledge Brokering to describe five roles of knowledge brokers in health care. This model provides clarity about the function of KBs across various settings and can support brokers in articulating their activities and impact.

The 5 Role Domains of Knowledge Brokers

Information Manager — find, organize and clarify evidence from both research and the local context
Linking Agent — connect and build relationships between stakeholders
Capacity Builder — encourage skill development, address barriers and make use of resources
Facilitator — guide processes to support evidence use
Evaluator — consider the outcomes, impact and the local context of knowledge broker activities

The article provides specific examples of how we have applied these roles to our own work as knowledge brokers in British Columbia. Note that some KBs may function mostly in one of these role domains, while others may cross all five categories.

**Using the Model to Guide Professional Development as a Knowledge Broker**

The Role Model for Knowledge Brokering can be used to guide KB professional development. Because broker job descriptions vary greatly across settings, it is helpful to first name which of the five role domains will be the most relevant. Secondly, list the specific knowledge and skills required to perform the relevant role(s). These can be identified and addressed through targeted learning activities.

Skills-based, self-evaluation tools that align with the role domains can help KBs and employers monitor progress in the KB’s development. In settings where KBs work together, a needs assessment structured around the role domains can help find mentors with particular strengths. These can also be used to detect areas for collective training. Finally, the role domains can be used to identify valuable outcomes and impacts of knowledge brokering to measure in specific settings. For example, a capacity building knowledge broker position may benefit from evaluation strategies examining changes in stakeholders’ knowledge and skills. Alternately, a linking agent KB may focus evaluation efforts on assessing the number, nature and quality of relationships among stakeholders.

Previous work has identified the qualities of KBs that are important, but until now, we have not had a model describing what KBs actually do in their day-to-day work. The Role Model for Knowledge Brokering not only provides this clarity, but also helps organizations support the learning needs of brokers while evaluating their impact.