Perspectives of an Interdisciplinary Research Team to Engage Practice: Lessons from a Knowledge Exchange Trainee Experience

Abstract: End-of-life (EOL) care is an area of health services that will ultimately affect us all. To share the knowledge emerging from EOL research and to address inequities in the quality of EOL care in Nova Scotia, a knowledge exchange (KE) trainee was hired to translate research and surveillance into a Surveillance Report. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon this initiative and share the research team's perspectives on their KE experiences. We describe four key competencies of the KE trainee selected, and discuss lessons learned from this KE trainee experience, to expand our understanding of KE.

Members of the Network for End-of-Life Studies (NELS) at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received an Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to establish ongoing surveillance and monitoring of end-of-life (EOL) care, with a systematic focus on vulnerable populations (Johnston et al. 2006).

EOL care is an area of health services that will ultimately affect us all. A 1995 Senate report (Special Senate Committee 1995) stated that EOL care is "characterized by uneven access to services, and disruptive, ineffective care leading to substandard outcomes." A 10-year follow-up found little change in care provision (Carstairs 2005). In Nova Scotia, only 21% are completely satisfied with EOL services (Cancer Care Nova Scotia 2003). That the number of persons dying of terminal chronic disease will increase steeply (Saint-Jacques et al. 2002) makes these reports more unsettling.

To share the knowledge emerging from Nova Scotia–based EOL research and to address inequities in the quality of EOL care in the province, NELS recruited a knowledge exchange (KE) trainee [SM] to translate research and surveillance knowledge emerging from the NELS/ICE team into a Surveillance Report. Given their limited understanding of and experiences with KE, NELS/ICE researchers decided to employ a dedicated individual to develop the report in cooperation with NELS members and other stakeholders in the EOL care community. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon this initiative and share the research team's perspectives on their efforts (e.g., hiring a KE trainee) towards making research findings more relevant to decision- and policy makers in Nova Scotia.

Employing individuals in dedicated KE roles (knowledge brokers are one example) may be one way to help researchers and decision-makers communicate their needs and abilities, and advocate for the use of evidence in healthcare (CHSRF 2003; Thompson et al. 2006; Dobbins et al. 2009; Ward et al. 2009).

The primary role of this KE trainee was to draft the first Surveillance Report, which was meant to translate evidence to inform policy and decision-making. The role involved working with NELS/ICE team members; managers of palliative care programs and the provincial cancer agency responsible for advising on cancer care services; policy makers in government (e.g., Department of Health, Health Canada and Vital Statistics); and staff of other agencies/organizations involved in EOL research and care delivery. (Healthcare Policy, 5(4) 2010: 47-57)

Healthcare Policy, 5(4) 2010: 47-57 (Longwood Publishing)

Read the full report and results of the knowledge exchange experience.