reflecting on backward design for knowledge translation; comment on “a call for a backward design to knowledge translation”

in a recent editorial for this journal, el-jardali and fadlallah proposed a new framework for knowledge translation (kt) in healthcare. many such frameworks already exist; thus, new entrants to the field must be scrutinized in regard to their unique contributions to advancing understanding and practice. the el-jardali and fadlallah framework focuses on policy-level discussions, a relatively under-studied issue to date. their framework usefully incorporates both priority setting questions at the front-end (which kt efforts get undertaken and which do not) as well as evaluation questions at the back-end (how do we show that more evidence-informed decisions are actually better ones?). their framework also emphasizes capacity building among both decision-makers and researchers. this is an area worthy of additional attention, particularly because it is likely to be far more challenging than el-jardali and fadlallah allow.