Telerehabilitation for people with physical disabilities and movement impairment: development and evaluation of an online toolkit for practitioners and patients

There is confusion and misunderstanding about the concepts of knowledge translation, knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, research utilization, implementation, diffusion, and dissemination. We review the terms and definitions used to describe the concept of moving knowledge into action. We also offer a conceptual framework for thinking about the process and integrate the roles of knowledge creation and knowledge application. The implications of knowledge translation for continuing education in the health professions include the need to base continuing education on the best available knowledge, the use of educational and other transfer strategies that are known to be effective, and the value of learning about planned-action theories to be better able to understand and influence change in practice settings. Show more

Centuries of experience make it clear that establishing the effectiveness of a clinical innovation is not sufficient to guarantee its uptake into routine use. The relatively new field of implementation science has developed to enhance the uptake of evidence-based practices and thereby increase their public health impact. Implementation science shares many characteristics, and the rigorous approach, of clinical research. However, it is distinct in that it attends to factors in addition to the effectiveness of the clinical innovation itself, to include identifying and addressing barriers and facilitators to the uptake of evidence-based clinical innovations. This article reviews the definition, history, and scope of implementation science, and places the field within the broader enterprise of biomedical research. It also provides an overview of this Special Issue of Psychiatry Research, which introduces the principles and methods of implementation science to mental health researchers. Show more