IKT Guiding Principles: demonstration of diffusion and dissemination in partnership

Research Involvement and Engagement, 2023 · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-023-00462-1 · Published: July 4, 2023

Spinal Cord Injury Healthcare Research Methodology & Design

Simple Explanation

Often, research findings do not get to the people, groups, and/or institutions who could benefit from the findings. Two ways to help move research into practice more efficiently are to: (1) work in partnership with people who may benefit most from the research findings, and (2) share and communicate the findings of research beyond scientists. However, little is known about how to work in partnership while sharing the results of a research study. Therefore, this project demonstrates how a research partnership can work while promoting the results of their research project. Overall, working in partnership while sharing research findings may further help to ensure the research results are shared with those who could benefit from those findings.

Study Duration

102 days diffusion phase, 1147 day dissemination phase

Participants

22 members who are researchers and/or knowledge users

Evidence Level

Descriptive evaluation study

Key Findings

1
In the diffusion period, the recommendations were viewed 60 times from 4 different countries, and 4 new downloads.
2
In the dissemination period, the recommendations were viewed 1109 times from 39 different countries, 386 new downloads, and 54 citations.
3
Overall, during dissemination there was a 17.5% increase in new visitors to the website a month and a 95.5% increase in downloads compared to diffusion.

Research Summary

This project demonstrated the processes (i.e., inputs, activities, outputs) and outcomes (i.e., awareness) of a principled partnered approach to diffusion and dissemination of the IKT Guiding Principles. When a partnered approach to dissemination was used the rate of awareness of the IKT Guiding Principles was higher than during the diffusion phase. Findings from this work will inform future work related to disseminating the IKT Guiding Principles and provide a roadmap for other partnerships who are working in partnership during end-of-grant KT.

Practical Implications

Strategic Dissemination

Research partnerships should utilize diverse dissemination strategies to reach wider audiences beyond scholars.

Capacity Building

The research system needs to build capacity by providing resources, funding, and designated dissemination roles to foster consistent dissemination of research findings.

Longitudinal Studies

Future studies are needed to understand the long-term impact of IKT approaches on the adoption, implementation, and transformation of research systems.

Study Limitations

1
Google Analytics is an imperfect platform for identifying unique individuals as you cannot distinguish a person from an IP address.
2
our citation forward search did not investigate the use of the IKT Guiding Principles.
3
Third, there were limited responses to the partnership tracking survey and Project CV from members of the IKT Guiding Principles partnership.

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