Practicing Judicious End-of-Grant KT

By Leah Crockett

So you’ve got a great research idea. If you’re on top of your game, you’re in the early stages of your grant application. Up comes the knowledge translation (KT) section. What should you consider? Who should you involve in the planning phase? And when should you involve them? Check out Carly’s post for tips on how to write KT into your grant application.

When we talk about KT, KnowledgeNudge emphasizes four key components when we talk about KT: synthesis, exchange, application and dissemination. Today, we will touch on dissemination, often known as end-of-grant KT.

Tip 1: Practice Judicious KT

First, take a step back. Not all research is at the stage where it should be translated into practice. You should have a strong incontestable body of evidence to reach the stage of practice or policy change. This level of evidence includes things like systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Findings should also be of strong significance to your end-users. Short of that, you should be sure to use language to strongly qualify the limitations of your findings.

End-of-grant KT can include a range of activities. It may refer to typical dissemination and communications activities. Or, it may involve more intensive dissemination activities that tailor messages to specific audiences and/or involve end-users in this process to facilitate the adoption of your findings.

Your end-of-grant KT plan can be modest or ambitious. But, it should match the strength of your findings. Judicious KT means being thoughtful, sensible and practical when developing your KT strategy.

Levels of Dissemination

End-of-grant activities can vary in scope and intensity.

• Diffusion is the bare-bones level, often referred to as simply ’letting it happen.’ This is a passive form of KT that includes things like publishing in academic journals and presenting at conferences. Here, the onus is on the knowledge user to find the knowledge and is typically restricted to the academic community. We encourage you to move beyond this level.
• Dissemination steps it up a notch by ‘helping it happen.’ This includes considering your target audience and communicating your findings appropriately. As you move along the KT continuum, you begin more actively interacting with end-users (be they researchers, policy makers, or individuals with lived experience) in developing your dissemination plans and tools.
• Some people also talk about implementation as being the highest level of dissemination, which would cross over into application. Implementation is a more purposeful intent to ‘make it happen,’ for example, by identifying and removing barriers. This is easier said than done… so we will leave that for another post.

Tip 2: Fundamentals

In ‘Knowledge Translation in Health Care,’ Graham, Tetroe and Gagnon outline five essential ingredients that should be articulated in your end-of-grant KT plan: goals, audience, strategies, expertise and resources.

• Goals — Set clear goals for your KT efforts. Is your goal simply to raise awareness and spread knowledge? Is it to change a particular healthcare practice? Just remember, these should be relevant to the nature of your research findings.
• Audience — Who are your end users? Think about the current state of their knowledge, how they might intend to use this knowledge, and what formats/mediums might be best for transmitting this information to each group of end users [tip: each group is often different].
• Strategies — What strategies will you use to diffuse, disseminate or implement? And which are appropriate for each end-user?
• Expertise — What expertise is needed to execute your KT plan? Do you have the appropriate representation and skill set on your team? Roles to consider can include knowledge brokers, community members, KT specialists, communication and media specialists, and health care managers.
• Resources — Be sure to allocate appropriate resources to carry out your KT plan. These include both financial resources and human resources.

Tip 3: Guiding Resources

Feeling overwhelmed? Not to worry. There are a number of resources at your finger tips to help you through the process. For a step-by-step guide, see Melanie Barwick’s KT Planning Template. For advice or guidance throughout the planning stage, you can also contact the Knowledge Translation team at CHI (that’s us!). Start by taking a look at the services we offer.

An integrated KT approach to dissemination

As we touched on earlier, end-users have extensive knowledge that can lead to a more enriched and valuable KT plan. Engaging end-users, where appropriate, in the development of your KT plan can help you reach intended audiences, craft your message, and suggest potentially useful strategies. Be sure to start this engagement early in the research process.

About the Author

Leah Crockett is a doctoral student in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.