Research agenda for integrated knowledge translation (IKT) in healthcare: what we know and do not yet know

INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION (IKT) In the health sector, considerable resources are deployed for knowledge translation (KT) to ensure that stakeholders are aware of, and use research to inform policies, programmes and practices, leading to improved health. However, commonly used strategies, often based on one-way communication of research syntheses or summaries, have had inconsistent impact on the actual use of research and associated outcomes such as improved healthcare delivery and health gains. IKT represents an alternative approach for promoting research use in which research users function as active partners to generate research from conceptualisation to implementation, rather than passive recipients of research or research products. 4 Sometimes referred to as engaged scholarship, participatory research, co-production of knowledge or mode 2 research, IKT appears to enhance researcher understanding of the research user context and needs, thereby enhancing the relevance of the generated research, and increasing research user understanding of the research process, awareness of the research, and appreciation for how and when it can be applied. 4 The imperative to optimise patient and population outcomes is driving a growing interest in IKT among those who fund and deliver health programmes and services. The UK instituted Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, and the Netherlands implemented Academic Collaborative Centres for public health to integrate research, policy and practice, with the overall aim of improving health. 6 Funders of research also promote IKT by stipulating that research teams include research users. As a result, syntheses of studies that describe and evaluate research–research user collaboration have emerged. For example, we conducted a scoping review of 13 studies published between 2005 and 2014 on IKT involving researchers and healthcare policymakers or managers. Camden et al conducted a scoping review of 19 studies on stakeholder engagement in rehabilitation research published between 2003 and 2013. Cook conducted a systematic review of 20 studies published from 1995 to 2005 involving participatory research in the USA to address health disparities in environmental and occupational health. Reviews such as these provide valuable insight into what we do and do not yet know about IKT. Few pressing themes that emerged from these reviews are discussed here for the purpose of identifying issues warranting ongoing research.