Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, 101 Clarendon Road, Leeds, UK.
Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Leeds, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Feb;74(3):297-304. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.09.021. Epub 2011 Oct 8.
Knowledge translation is underpinned by a dynamic and social knowledge exchange process but there are few descriptions of how this unfolds in practice settings. This has hampered attempts to produce realistic and useful models to help policymakers and researchers understand how knowledge exchange works. This paper reports the results of research which investigated the nature of knowledge exchange. We aimed to understand whether dynamic and fluid definitions of knowledge exchange are valid and to produce a realistic, descriptive framework of knowledge exchange. Our research was informed by a realist approach. We embedded a knowledge broker within three service delivery teams across a mental health organisation in the UK, each of whom was grappling with specific challenges. The knowledge broker participated in the team's problem-solving process and collected observational fieldnotes. We also interviewed the team members. Observational and interview data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively in order to determine and describe the nature of the knowledge exchange process in more detail. This enabled us to refine our conceptual framework of knowledge exchange. We found that knowledge exchange can be understood as a dynamic and fluid process which incorporates distinct forms of knowledge from multiple sources. Quantitative analysis illustrated that five broadly-defined components of knowledge exchange (problem, context, knowledge, activities, use) can all be in play at any one time and do not occur in a set order. Qualitative analysis revealed a number of distinct themes which better described the nature of knowledge exchange. By shedding light on the nature of knowledge exchange, our findings problematise some of the linear, technicist approaches to knowledge translation. The revised model of knowledge exchange which we propose here could therefore help to reorient thinking about knowledge exchange and act as a starting point for further exploration and evaluation of the knowledge exchange process.
知识转化是以动态和社会知识交流过程为基础的，但对于这一过程在实践中是如何展开的，却鲜有描述。这阻碍了人们尝试构建现实和有用的模型，以帮助政策制定者和研究人员了解知识交流的工作方式。本文报告了一项调查知识交流本质的研究结果。我们旨在了解动态和灵活的知识交流定义是否有效，并构建一个现实的、描述性的知识交流框架。我们的研究受到了现实主义方法的启发。我们在英国一家心理健康机构的三个服务提供团队中嵌入了一名知识经纪人，他们都在应对具体的挑战。知识经纪人参与了团队的解决问题的过程，并收集了观察性实地记录。我们还对团队成员进行了访谈。观察和访谈数据进行了定量和定性分析，以更详细地确定和描述知识交流过程的性质。这使我们能够完善我们的知识交流概念框架。我们发现，知识交流可以被理解为一个动态和灵活的过程，它整合了来自多个来源的不同形式的知识。定量分析表明，知识交流的五个广泛定义的组成部分（问题、背景、知识、活动、使用）都可以在任何时候同时发挥作用，并且不会按照固定的顺序发生。定性分析揭示了一些更好地描述知识交流本质的不同主题。通过揭示知识交流的本质，我们的发现使一些线性的、技术主义的知识转化方法受到质疑。我们在这里提出的修订后的知识交流模型可以帮助重新思考知识交流，并作为进一步探索和评估知识交流过程的起点。
