Accelerating the Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Over the past 3 decades, a substantial number of studies were published with the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of rehabilitation clinical practice. Clinicians and researchers face considerable challenges in successfully implementing these research findings into routine clinical practice. Knowledge translation includes the synthesis, dissemination, exchange, and ethically sound application of knowledge to improve health, provide more effective health services and products, and strengthen the health care system. An aim of knowledge translation research is to identify strategies to accelerate implementation of evidence into practice. A recent citation analysis on a commonly used knowledge translation framework, the Knowledge-to-Action Framework, identified implementation activities performed in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Although this citation analysis describes activities performed and outcomes assessed while conducting knowledge translation projects, successful knowledge translation also requires a robust social and physical infrastructure. In this commentary, we offer several observations that appear related to the increased likelihood of implementation success. Funders, higher education institutions, health care payers, and health care organizations contribute to successful implementation and must embrace their roles in implementation. Administrators, clinicians, and consumers of physical medicine and rehabilitation also have essential roles in knowledge translation.