Evaluation of a knowledge translation initiative for physical therapists treating patients with work disability

We evaluated a knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) initiative aimed at providing physical therapists with best practice information regarding work disability prevention.

The KTE initiative involved dissemination of a best practice resource guide for work disability prevention, creation of a network of peer-selected educationally influential clinicians, province-wide seminars for practicing clinicians, and use of the resources in an academic training curriculum. Evaluation included email surveys of clinician practice patterns and exposure to the KTE initiative. We also evaluated the impact of the KTE on community physical therapy workers' compensation outcomes.

241 and 164 clinicians responded to the baseline and follow-up email surveys, respectively. Clinicians reported a wide range of years in practice (0-30+ years) and practice settings although the majority worked in private clinics (approximately 61%). Approximately 80% of the follow-up sample reported some exposure to the KTE initiative. Few differences were observed in reported practice patterns between survey periods. Compensation outcomes improved slightly after KTE (68 versus 70% off benefits) however, this effect was confounded by proportion of claimants with sprain/strain injury.

Implementation of a KTE initiative appears to have had little impact on the clinical practice or outcomes. Future interventions for rehabilitation professionals should consider the organisational culture of the settings in which they practice, which may be a barrier or facilitator of research uptake.