Mendell Joanna, Richardson Lindsey
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 18;21(1):153. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10121-9.
Solutions to complex public health issues should be informed by scientific evidence, yet there are important differences between policy and research processes that make this relationship challenging. Integrated knowledge translation (IKT) is a strategy of sustained stakeholder engagement that intends to address barriers to evidence use. We highlight an example of an IKT project alongside a randomized controlled trial of a public policy intervention that tested different disbursement patterns of income assistance among people who use drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia.
A case study design was used where an IKT strategy led by a knowledge broker embedded within the research team acts as the case. This case study evaluates the process and effectiveness of the integrated knowledge translation project by measuring intermediate outcomes within a Theory of Change created to map pathways to impact. Content analysis was performed using an evaluation template through document review, post-event evaluations, and detailed tracking of media, knowledge translation activities and requests for information.
A host of knowledge translation products synthesized existing research about the harms of synchronized income assistance disbursement and supported stakeholder engagement, facilitating conversation, relationship building and trust with stakeholders. Engagement improved knowledge of the contextual feasibility for system change, and contributed experiential knowledge to study findings. A combination of access to information and stakeholder and media engagement led to increased acknowledgement of the issue by policy makers directly involved in the income assistance system.
This project shows how a multipronged approach to IKT addressed barriers to evidence-informed public policy and successfully contributed to increased public discourse around income assistance policy reform. Additionally, sustained engagement with diverse stakeholders led to improved contextual knowledge and understanding of potential community level impacts that, along with scientific results, improved the evidence available to inform system change. This case study provides insight into the role IKT can play alongside research aimed at public policy improvements.
This IKT project was embedded within the study titled: The impact of Alternative Social Assistance Disbursement on Drug-Related Harm (TASA), known as Cheque Day Study, registered on ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02457949 ) May 29, 2015.
解决复杂的公共卫生问题应以科学证据为依据，但政策制定过程和研究过程存在重要差异，这使得二者之间的关系颇具挑战性。整合知识转化（IKT）是一种持续让利益相关者参与的策略，旨在消除证据应用的障碍。我们重点介绍一个IKT项目案例，该项目与一项公共政策干预的随机对照试验同时开展，该试验测试了不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华市吸毒者不同的收入援助发放模式。
采用案例研究设计，以研究团队中一名知识经纪人主导的IKT策略作为案例。本案例研究通过衡量为绘制影响路径而创建的变革理论中的中间结果，评估整合知识转化项目的过程和有效性。通过文件审查、事后评估以及对媒体、知识转化活动和信息请求的详细跟踪，使用评估模板进行内容分析。
大量知识转化成果综合了关于同步收入援助发放危害的现有研究，并支持利益相关者参与，促进了与利益相关者的对话、关系建立和信任。参与提高了对系统变革背景可行性的认识，并为研究结果贡献了经验知识。信息获取与利益相关者及媒体参与相结合，使得直接参与收入援助系统的政策制定者对该问题的认识有所增加。
该项目展示了多管齐下的IKT方法如何消除循证公共政策的障碍，并成功促进了围绕收入援助政策改革的公众讨论。此外，与不同利益相关者的持续互动增进了对背景知识的了解以及对潜在社区层面影响的认识，这与科学成果一道，改善了用于为系统变革提供信息的证据。本案例研究深入探讨了IKT在旨在改进公共政策的研究中所能发挥的作用。
此IKT项目纳入了一项名为“替代社会援助发放对毒品相关危害的影响（TASA）”的研究，即支票日研究，于2015年5月29日在ClinicalTrials.gov注册（NCT02457949）。
