Translating Evidence to Practice: Development and Dissemination of AOTA’s Knowledge Translation Toolkit

PURPOSE: Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are committed to providing high-quality, client-centered care informed by current evidence. However, complex factors influence the extent to which evidence can be translated into routine practice (i.e., knowledge translation). As such, AOTA’s Evidence-Based Practice team and affiliated colleagues developed a Knowledge Translation (KT) Toolkit for practitioners across OT practice settings. The purpose of this presentation is to (a) describe the development of the KT Toolkit, (b) share Toolkit resources, and (c) present examples of how the KT Toolkit can optimize the delivery of evidence-based care.

DESIGN: To ensure Toolkit resources met the needs of the profession, OT practitioner input was needed from diverse practice settings. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of practitioners who identified common barriers and facilitators to evidence implementation based on constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. The anonymous survey was administered through a web-based platform, and respondents were recruited through AOTA’s social media channels, CommunOT, and the AOTA website homepage.

METHOD: The web-based survey allowed respondents to select common barriers and facilitators perceived to influence evidence implementation. Major barriers and facilitators were identified through descriptive analyses. The identification of major barriers and facilitators to evidence use provided insight into the types of KT Toolkit resources that needed to be developed to address practitioners’ needs. KT Toolkit team members then completed the following activities between Jan 2020 and May 2021: (a) initiated development of Toolkit resources, (b) completed internal review of Toolkit resources, (c) revised resources based on internal feedback from 4 reviewers, (d) completed external review of Toolkit resources, (d) revised resources based on external feedback from 5 reviewers, and (e) initiated plans for Toolkit dissemination.

RESULTS: The web-based survey yielded 836 responses. Common barriers to evidence implementation included the lack of time to stay up-to-date on research (n = 564), a lack of resources and equipment (n = 569), and difficulty accessing peer-reviewed articles (n = 354). Common facilitators to evidence use included the availability of resources (n = 620), encouragement from peers and administrators (n = 529), and accessibility to clinical practice guidelines (n = 486). In response to these barriers and facilitators, 10 KT Toolkit resources were developed and organized into the following categories: (a) Getting started with evidence-based practice, (b) Changing your own practice, (c) Influencing change in your organization, and (d) Sharing knowledge. Examples of Toolkit resources include videos for finding open access research articles, how-to recommendations for building a local Community of Practice, and the updated Journal Club Toolkit.

CONCLUSION: Based on survey data and feedback from internal and external reviewers, the KT Toolkit contains several resources to enhance practitioners’ ability to hold local in-services and trainings, decipher peer-reviewed research findings, appoint evidence-based practice leaders, and develop and sustain knowledge sharing networks. The KT Toolkit will continue to grow as new resources are developed and represents AOTA’s efforts to meet the profession’s needs for implementing evidence into routine practice.

IMPACT STATEMENT: This KT Toolkit, informed directly by practitioner input and stakeholder feedback, serves as the profession’s first compilation of resources systematically developed to facilitate the adoption of evidence into OT practice.

References

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Juckett, L. A., Robinson, M. L., & Wengerd, L. R. (2019). Narrowing the gap: An implementation science research agenda for the occupational therapy profession. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(5), 7305347010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2019.033902

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