Re-visioning practice through action research

Ongoing knowledge development calls on health professionals to explore strategies to disseminate new or updated theoretical frameworks to practitioners. To date few researchers have explored effective means to do this or how the dissemination of professional ideas impacts on effective service delivery. The study described in this article aimed to identify strategies senior occupational therapists adopted to disseminate new concepts that have the potential to re-vision and transform practice.

Six occupational therapists were recruited as co-researchers to become part of a collaborative community of practice. Over a 9-month period they engaged in a project based on action research cycles where they had access to a newly revised theoretical framework. During each cycle the co-researchers participated in a teleconference which was audio-recorded where they reflected on concepts in relation to their own practice.

As understanding of the theoretical framework increased, they discussed which aspects of their practice could change, particularly in relation to processes they used to disseminate knowledge to the staff they supervised or managed.

The co-researchers described a range of ideas for dissemination which included individual and group strategies. In addition, they became aware of the transformative potential of their new knowledge as a way to better understand and create change within their organisations. The co-researchers also described a sense of increased confidence, not only in terms of conceptualising practice but in terms of supervising staff and challenging service delivery.