The Road Ahead

Exploring the Development of a Community of Practice for KTE Leaders

Megan Harris, Alzheimer Knowledge ExchangeElizabeth Lusk, Seniors Health Research Transfer Network

Where We Have Been

• Discussed our experiences with networks and communities of practice as vehicles for knowledge exchange and transfer

• Envisioned KTE processes and strategies to inform the Issues and Options paper

• Informed the development of a national knowledge translation network

What We’ve Heard

• Create supportive cultures

• Give voice to different types of knowledge

• Capture and share experiences

• Power in the human force

• Multiple needs require multiple strategies

Why Continue the Conversation?

“If we fail to bridge these gaps, most clinicians, patients, educators, learners, researchers, policy makers, and other members of society may never

benefit from the information that could best guide their decisions in health care”

- Jaded et al., 2000

How We Might Get There• Engaging in face-to-face or ‘real time’ exchange (formal

or informal)• Collaborating early with all sectors• Using knowledge that is translated for your application

and need• Accessing evidence, guidelines or tools• Developing a community of practice• Participating in facilitated meetings, or workshops• Building a steering committee or working group• Accessing facilitators to make connections

The KTE Knowledge Bankwww.KTEKnowledgeBank.ca

Why a Knowledge Bank?

• “Health care practice is most likely to be enhanced by intertwining best evidence with best informatics techniques”

• “Evidence processing has been greatly accelerated by centralization of information for the development of current awareness publications and cumulative ‘best evidence’ databases”

Haynes, 1998

What It Is…And Is Not

• IS: an interactive resource exchange that currently houses the results of a preliminary primary literature search (addition of resources from tacit survey coming soon)

• IS NOT: a static website, systematic review, meta-analysis, nor a critical review of the literature

Valuing ‘Knowledge’

• Explicit knowledge collection– Literature search of peer review journal databases

using key words and research questions

• Tacit knowledge collection– Survey of KTE leaders, as identified by working

group

Knowledge Bank Framework

1. Processes and strategies

2. Content or evidence

3. Culture or context

4. Facilitation including technology

What We Found (explicit)Resource Type KTE Dementia Mental

HealthBooks and chapters 33 0 0

Communication Notes and Technical Briefs 2 0 0

Conference Papers and Proceedings 18 0 0

Dissertations 5 0 0

Handbooks, Guidelines and Toolkits 7 0 0

Initiatives and Projects 1 0 0

Peer Reviewed Journals 405 7 18

Reports and Working Papers 18 0 2

Websites 3 1 1

TOTAL 492 9 20

What We Heard (tacit)• You feel that knowledge exchange and

supportive cultures are critical to support knowledge transfer

• You seek information from provincial and national organizations, networks and websites

• You find teleconferences and online meetings to be the most effective use of technology for KTE

• Together, you referenced 126 resources/ frameworks that you apply in your practice

Your Questions

• How do we measure use, results, impacts?• What frameworks, models, levers support

success? • What works in different settings?• How do we effectively share information?• How do we speed up the process?• How do we secure real resources to support

these mechanisms?

Continuing the Momentum

“Communities of practice are key. Given the choice of attending a major conference with

the gurus, I would choose a CoP event. The information is geared to emerging or

present issues [for which] I as a practitioner need to have solutions”

What is a CoP?

A forum/platform to:

• connect, share and collaborate within and outside the context of your organization

• engage in a process of learning and action

• facilitate improvement in practice to improve quality of life for the person and family

Why a CoP?

• Nodes for exchange and interpretation of information and knowledge

• Retain knowledge in "living" ways, unlike a database or a manual

• Avoid duplication of efforts

“Always a learner”- KTE survey respondent

Adapted from Wenger (1999)

What supports a CoP?

• Dedicated resources to coordinate and facilitate activities and exchange

• Mutual commitment to come together• Opportunities for varying levels of participation

(get what you need, when you need it)• Central repository to facilitate sharing of

existing resources and knowledge• Sense of purpose…sense of fun!

What could this CoP look like?

• ON GREEN – How could your organization/network benefit from this platform for exchange?

• ON RED – What are your priorities?

• ON YELLOW – Who else needs to be a part of this conversation?

Contact Us

• Megan Harris, Knowledge Broker/Coordinator, Alzheimer Knowledge Exchangemeganharris@sympatico.ca

• Elizabeth Lusk, Knowledge Broker, Seniors Health Research Transfer Networkgestalt.liz@gmail.com