Maleki Katayoun, Hamadeh Randah R, Gholami Jaleh, Mandil Ahmed, Hamid Saima, Butt Zahid Ahmad, Bin Saeed Abdulaziz, El Kheir Dalia Y M, Saleem Mohammed, Maqsoud Sahar, Safi Najibullah, Abdul-Majeed Ban A, Majdzadeh Reza
Knowledge Utilization Research Center, TUMS, Tehran, Iran.
College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, AGU, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 8;9(9):e103732. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103732. eCollection 2014.
A serious worldwide effort to strengthen research based knowledge translation (KT) has begun in recent years and some countries, particularly developed ones, are trying to incorporate KT in their health and health research systems. Keeping in mind the recent economic depression and the need to perform more efficient research, we aimed to assess and compare the KT status of selected health research institutes in the Eastern Mediterranean Regions' countries, and to identify their strengths and weaknesses in the field.
After finding the focal points that would steer the focus group discussions (FGDs) and help complete the 'Self Assessment Tool for Research Institutes' (SATORI) tool, each focal point held two FGDs in which researchers, research authorities and other individuals specified in detail further in the study were held. The scores obtained by each institute were evaluated quantitatively, and the transcriptions were analyzed qualitatively with OpenCode software.
For ease of analysis the 50 items of the SATORI were classified into 7 main domains: 'priority setting', 'research quality and timeliness', 'researchers' KT capacities', 'facilities and pre-requisites of KT', 'processes and regulations supporting KT', 'interaction with research users', and 'promoting and evaluating the use of knowledge'. Based on the scoring system, the strongest domain was 'research quality and timeliness'. 'Priority setting' was the weakest domain of all. The remaining domains were more or less equal in strength and were not in a favorable state. The qualitative findings confirmed the quantitative findings.
The main problem, it seems, is that a KT climate does not exist in the region. And despite the difference in the contexts, there are many similarities in the region's institutes included in this study. Collaborative efforts can play a role in creating this climate by steering countries towards KT and suggesting regional strategic directions according to their needs.
近年来，全球范围内已展开一项旨在加强基于研究的知识转化（KT）的重要工作，一些国家，尤其是发达国家，正试图将知识转化纳入其卫生及卫生研究体系。鉴于近期的经济衰退以及开展更高效研究的必要性，我们旨在评估和比较东地中海区域各国选定卫生研究机构的知识转化状况，并确定它们在该领域的优势与劣势。
在确定了将主导焦点小组讨论（FGD）并协助完成“研究机构自我评估工具”（SATORI）的联络人之后，每位联络人组织了两次焦点小组讨论，参与讨论的有研究人员、研究管理部门以及本研究中进一步详细指定的其他人员。对每个机构获得的分数进行定量评估，并使用OpenCode软件对文字记录进行定性分析。
为便于分析，SATORI的50个项目被归为7个主要领域：“确定优先事项”、“研究质量与及时性”、“研究人员的知识转化能力”、“知识转化的设施与先决条件”、“支持知识转化的流程与规定”、“与研究用户的互动”以及“促进和评估知识的应用”。根据评分系统，最强的领域是“研究质量与及时性”。“确定优先事项”是所有领域中最薄弱的。其余领域的实力大致相当，且状况不佳。定性研究结果证实了定量研究结果。
该地区似乎主要的问题在于不存在知识转化的氛围。尽管背景存在差异，但本研究纳入的该地区各机构有许多相似之处。通过引导各国走向知识转化并根据其需求提出区域战略方向，合作努力可以在营造这种氛围方面发挥作用。
