Developing a knowledge translation program for health practitioners: Allied Health Translating Research into...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Knowledge Translation
• Allied Health Professions

Background:

• Front-line health practitioners often lack confidence in knowledge translation (KT) skills.
• There is a need for KT capacity-building initiatives specifically for allied health professionals, beyond researcher-focused programs.
• This paper details the development and evaluation of a KT capacity-building program for allied health practitioners in geographically dispersed areas of Queensland, Australia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the development and evaluation of the Allied Health Translating Research into Practice (AH-TRIP) program.
• To assess the reach, adoption, and participant satisfaction of the AH-TRIP program.
• To provide insights into a scalable KT capacity-building model for allied health.

Main Methods:

• The AH-TRIP program was developed over five years, integrating theory, evidence, and needs assessment.
• It comprises five components: training, support networks, showcase, project implementation, and evaluation.
• The RE-AIM framework guided the evaluation, focusing on reach, adoption, and participant satisfaction from 2019-2021.

Main Results:

• 986 allied health practitioners participated, with 25% from regional Queensland.
• Online training had high engagement (944 monthly unique page views), and 148 practitioners received mentoring.
• High satisfaction was reported for mentoring and the showcase event, with 9 out of 16 health districts adopting AH-TRIP.

Conclusions:

• AH-TRIP is a cost-effective, scalable KT capacity-building initiative for allied health practitioners in diverse locations.
• Increased adoption in metropolitan areas highlights the need for targeted strategies to reach regional practitioners.
• Future evaluations should examine the impact on individual participants and health services.