Putting Research Evidence to Work

1. Putting Research Evidence to Work Research Seminar 14th January 2009

2. Background • Need for evidence based practice • International examples of web based resources • Funding by CAAB • Decision to begin with baseline study

3. Aims of study • Provide a review of literature on the barriers and facilitators to research use. • Carry out a consultancy process with staff employed in children’s services to establish the extent of research use in practice, the barriers and facilitators to its use, preferred methods of dissemination and topics • Report on knowledge brokering mechanisms used by similar services internationally • Draw conclusions from the foregoing and make recommendations to promote greater use of research in policy, management and practice

4. Methods • Review of literature • Review of websites • Survey of 155 practitioners and managers • 13 focus groups with practitioners and managers

5. Objectives of survey • To obtain some demographic information about participants in order to provide a context for the reporting of findings • To ascertain staff members’ access to research evidence, including barriers and facilitators • To ascertain the extent to which staff members applied research evidence in their work, the obstacles that prevented them from doing so, any methods by which they were facilitated and their own participation in research • To ascertain what types of research evidence were considered most useful including preferred methods of dissemination

6. Objectives of focus groups • The factors which most influenced practice • The ways in which research evidence was used • The relevance of research to practice and the benefits of accessing and applying it • The barriers to research utilisation • Factors that facilitated research use • Suggestions for further promotion of research utilisation

7. Outcomes: Literature • Support for and critiques of EBP, more correctly termed as evidence INFORMED practice • Obstacles related to personal use of evidence, organisational culture and the nature of research material • Facilitators of a similar nature

8. Findings: rate of research usage • One fifth of participants looked up research weekly • One third looked up research monthly • One eighth looked up research approximately every two months • Remainder varied from six-monthly to yearly

9. Main sources of material • Internet, used by about two thirds • Print literature, used by about two thirds • Learning events attended by one fifth

10. Overall findingsBarriers: Individual practitioner • Lack of access • Lack of time • Resistance to change • Reluctance to prioritise reading research over other tasks • Lack of trust in research • Lack of critical appraisal skills • Lack of awareness of sources • Reluctance to formally cite literature

11. Organisational barriers • Lack of research culture: action rather than reflection, lack of value attributed to research • Competing agendas • Lack of resources to promote research implementation • Reliance on oral exchanges of information

12. Barriers related to the nature of research evidence • Lack of specificity and over simplicity • Volume • Gaps and lack of relevance • Perceived lack of Irish material • Conflicting interests of researchers and service providers • Complicated presentations including statistics • Methods of dissemination: lack of interaction between research producers and research users

13. Facilitators: Individual • Motivation of individuals • Ability to frame well crafted questions • Critical appraisal skills • Informal sharing in the work place – around the photocopier, feedback from seminars, students on placement

14. Facilitators: organisations • Time, opportunity and a culture of support • Employment of researchers and commissioning research • Partnerships with research organisations • Informing protocols with research • Providing training in critical reasoning • Setting expectations and providing incentives • Focusing on self evaluation

15. Facilitators: nature of research • User friendly presentation with strong clear messages – implications and recommendation, bullet points and summaries • Range of dissemination methods: seminars, mailings, CD’s, websites • Systematic reviews • Knowledge brokering organisations

16. Recommendations: Research commissioners • Development of research strategy • Including views of service users, service providers and researchers when commissioning • Requiring dissemination strategies • Partnership approach • Data base of Irish research as well as overviews

17. Recommendations: Service Provider Organisations • Promoting organisational culture • Appointing dedicated research staff • Dedicated programme for implementing research findings into practice • Involving staff in the conduct of research • Providing access and training • Closing the loop by informing staff how research findings are to be used • Promoting ‘champions’

18. Recommendations: Research Providers • Partnership • Clearly written reports • Optional range of formats and dissemination strategies • Committing to interactive presentations • Pushing for more recognition of different types of research in the academic pecking order