Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions



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CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES SUBSCRIBE ADVERTISE ABOUT JCEHP FOR AUTHORS JCEHP AWARD SEARCH		Volume 26 (1) Volume 26, Issue 1, Winter 2006 J Contin Educ Health Prof 2006; 26(1):72 RESEARCH ARTICLE Knowledge Translation versus Knowledge Integration: A "Funder's" Perspective Jon F. Kerner Full Text A b s t r a c t Each year, billions of US tax dollars are spent on basic discovery, intervention development, and efficacy research, while hundreds of billions of US tax dollars are also spent on health service delivery programs. However, little is spent on or known about how best to ensure that the lessons learned from science inform and improve the quality of health services and the availability of evidence-based approaches. To close this discovery-delivery gap, researchers and their funding agencies not only must recognize the gap between basic discovery and intervention development, addressed in part through translational research investments, but they must also work together with practitioners and their funding agencies to recognize the growing gap between innovative interventions developed through research and what is actually delivered to reduce the burden of chronic disease within the United States. From a funding-agency perspective, the complexity of the challenges of translating lessons learned from science to public health, primary care, or disease specialty service settings requires a multifaceted partnership approach to accelerate the translation of research into practice. This essay reviews the background and challenges of closing the development-to-delivery gap and some exemplar strategies that have been used by funding agencies to address these challenges to date. Lessons for Practice Translating research into practice requires a common language and common understanding among researchers and practitioners about the meaning of knowledge translation, knowledge integration, and the nature of evidence. New and expanded investments in dissemination and implementation research are needed to review existing models and develop new conceptual frameworks translating research into practice. Research-practice partnerships will be critical in all aspects of future intervention development research; dissemination and implementation research; and diffusion, dissemination, and implementation of research results. Setting aside competing agendas will enable science and service funding agencies to integrate research with practice and to work more closely together to develop coordinated translation programs and knowledge management tools. When practitioners seek out researchers and are supported by their respective institutions, they can work together to ensure that new interventions being developed and tested through research are informed by the wealth of tacit and contextual knowledge gained from practice experience. Continuing education in the health professions should bring researchers and practitioners together to learn how best to integrate the lessons learned from research with the lessons learned from practice. Key Words: knowledge translation, knowledge integration, funding-agency perspective, continuing education, evidence, dissemination, diffusion
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