Zhu Eden Meng, Buljac-Samardžić Martina, Ahaus Kees, Huijsman Robbert
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2025 Jan 6;23(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12961-024-01266-9.
Non-pharmacological dementia research products, such as social and behavioural interventions, are generated in traditional university settings. These often experience challenges to impact practices that they were developed for. The Netherlands established five specialized academic health science centres, referred to as Alzheimer Centres, to structurally coordinate and facilitate the utilization of dementia research knowledge. This study leverages implementation science to systematically explore the research utilization strategies used by academic researchers from each Alzheimer Centre, on the basis of the "knowledge-to-action" (KTA) framework that includes knowledge creation, adaptation, dissemination and implementation.
Individual semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 respondents across the five Alzheimer Centres in the Netherlands. Participants were selected through purposive (snowball) sampling. Interviews were conducted in-person and virtually through Microsoft Teams, and all were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was guided by the dimensions of the KTA framework.
There was a high variation in the strategies used across the five Alzheimer Centres to bring non-pharmacological dementia research into practice. Selected strategies in each Centre were influenced by the typology of research products produced and the Centres' organizational heritage. The knowledge creation and adaptation phases were mainly facilitated by funders' guidance towards research impact and research product co-creation with patients and implementing organizations. Dissemination and implementation phases were often facilitated through utilizing support from university-based technology transfer offices to facilitate implementation and valorization and establishing and strategically leveraging formal infrastructure, such as public-private partnerships and professional collaborative networks.
Successful research utilization requires evolving researcher competencies to meet environmental demands and facilitating co-creation with research end-users and implementing partners. Understanding external determinants influencing research utilization in the Dutch dementia research ecosystem is crucial for capacity-building and aligning cross-sector agendas. The KTA framework appears to reveal the intricacies of research utilization, guiding future studies to explore strategies employed across various contexts.
非药物性痴呆研究产品，如社会和行为干预措施，是在传统大学环境中产生的。这些产品在应用于其设计目的的实践中常常面临挑战。荷兰设立了五个专门的学术健康科学中心，即阿尔茨海默病中心，以系统地协调和促进痴呆研究知识的利用。本研究利用实施科学，基于“知识到行动”（KTA）框架，系统地探索每个阿尔茨海默病中心的学术研究人员所采用的研究利用策略，该框架包括知识创造、调整、传播和实施。
对荷兰五个阿尔茨海默病中心的29名受访者进行了个人半结构化定性访谈。通过目的（滚雪球）抽样选择参与者。访谈通过面对面和通过微软团队以虚拟方式进行，所有访谈均进行了录音并逐字转录。数据分析以KTA框架的维度为指导。
五个阿尔茨海默病中心在将非药物性痴呆研究应用于实践方面所采用的策略存在很大差异。每个中心选择的策略受到所产生研究产品的类型和中心的组织传统的影响。知识创造和调整阶段主要由资助者对研究影响的指导以及与患者和实施组织共同创造研究产品来推动。传播和实施阶段通常通过利用大学技术转移办公室的支持来促进实施和增值，并建立和战略性地利用正式基础设施，如公私伙伴关系和专业协作网络来推动。
成功的研究利用需要不断发展研究人员的能力以满足环境需求，并促进与研究最终用户和实施伙伴的共同创造。了解影响荷兰痴呆研究生态系统中研究利用的外部决定因素对于能力建设和协调跨部门议程至关重要。KTA框架似乎揭示了研究利用的复杂性，指导未来研究探索在各种背景下采用的策略。
