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Author Spotlight: Insight Into Innovations in Spinal Cord Injury Research
Published on: January 19, 2024
Integrated Knowledge Translation Guiding Principles for Conducting and Disseminating Spinal Cord Injury Research in
Heather L Gainforth1, Femke Hoekstra1, Rhyann McKay1
1School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Objective:
To address a gap between spinal cord injury (SCI) research and practice by rigorously and systematically co-developing integrated knowledge translation (IKT) guiding principles for conducting and disseminating SCI research in partnership with research users.
Design:
The process was guided by the internationally accepted The Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch & Evaluation (AGREE) II Instrument for evaluating the development of clinical practice guidelines.
Setting:
North American SCI research system (ie, SCI researchers, research users, funders).
Participants:
The multidisciplinary expert panel (n=17) and end users (n=35) included individuals from a North American partnership of SCI researchers, research users, and funders who have expertise in research partnerships.
Interventions:
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures:
Clarity, usefulness, and appropriateness of the principles.
Results:
Data regarding 125 principles of partnered research were systematically collected from 4 sources (review of reviews, scoping review, interviews, Delphi consensus exercise). A multidisciplinary expert panel held a 2-day meeting to establish consensus, select guiding principles, and draft the guidance. The panel reached 100% consensus on the principles and guidance document. The final document includes a preamble, 8 guiding principles, and a glossary. Survey data showed that the principles and guidance document were perceived by potential end users as clear, useful, and appropriate.
Conclusions:
The IKT Guiding Principles represent the first rigorously co-developed, consensus-based guidance to support meaningful SCI research partnerships. The principles are a foundational tool with the potential to improve the relevance and impact of SCI research, mitigate tokenism, and advance the science of IKT.
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