Reflecting on backward design for knowledge translation Comment on "A call for a backward design to knowledge translation"

• Published in: International journal of health policy and management Vol. 4; no. 8; pp. 541 - 543
• Main Authors: Smith, Neale, Cornelissen, Evelyn, Mitton, Craig
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iran Kerman University of Medical Sciences 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Capacity Building; Evaluation; Evidence-based medicine; Knowledge Translation (KT); Laws, regulations and rules; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Priority Setting; United States; Evaluation; Knowledge Translation (KT); Priority Setting; Capacity Building
• ISSN: 2322-5939; 2322-5939
• DOI: 10.15171/ijhpm.2015.92

In a recent Editorial for this journal, El-Jardali and Fadlallah proposed a new framework for Knowledge Translation (KT) in healthcare. Many such frameworks already exist; thus, new entrants to the field must be scrutinized in regard to their unique contributions to advancing understanding and practice. The El-Jardali and Fadlallah framework focuses on policy-level discussions, a relatively under-studied issue to date. Their framework usefully incorporates both priority setting questions at the front-end (which KT efforts get undertaken and which do not) as well as evaluation questions at the back-end (how do we show that more evidence-informed decisions are actually better ones?). Their framework also emphasizes capacity building among both decision-makers and researchers. This is an area worthy of additional attention, particularly because it is likely to be far more challenging than El-Jardali and Fadlallah allow.