Building capacity for dissemination and implementation to maximize research impact in a CTSA: The University of Wisconsin story.

Andrew Quanbeck,Kate Judge,Kim Kies,Jane Mahoney,Maureen Smith

doi:10.1017/cts.2020.3

Abstract

We report results of an 8-year process of stakeholder engagement aimed at building capacity in Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) research at the University of Wisconsin as part of the National Institutes of Health's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). Starting in 2008, annual individual interviews were held with leaders of the Wisconsin CTSA's community engagement core for strategic planning purposes. Interviews were followed by annual planning meetings that employed a facilitated group decision-making process aimed at identifying and prioritizing gaps in the translational research spectrum. In 2011, the stakeholder engagement process identified D&I as a primary gap limiting overall impact of the institution's research across the translational spectrum. Since that time, our CTSA has created an array of D&I resources falling into four broad categories: (1) relationship building with D&I partners, (2) D&I skill building, (3) translational research resources, and (4) resources to support D&I activities. Our systematic process of stakeholder engagement has increased the impact of research by providing D&I resources to meet investigator and community needs. CTSAs could engage with leaders of their community engagement cores, which are common to all CTSAs, to adapt or adopt these resources to build D&I capacity.

Highlights

The University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) perennially ranks among the nation’s preeminent research institutions, placing sixth in 2017 with research funding of $1.2 billion [1]
The Wisconsin Idea has guided Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) in aiming to improve the health of the communities it serves by encouraging the dissemination of UW research
ICTR-Community–Academic Partnerships (CAP) is a federation of 38 community- and practice-based research networks and academic programs distributed across the university and the state

Summary

Introduction

The University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) perennially ranks among the nation’s preeminent research institutions, placing sixth in 2017 with research funding of $1.2 billion [1]. The university is a land grant institution guided by the “Wisconsin Idea,” which holds that the university’s research should be applied to improve the health and quality of life for citizens of the state and the nation. A national survey of 266 public health researchers across the USA revealed wide variability in how researchers incorporate the concept of dissemination into their research [2]. This environmental scan, including investigators from many CTSAs and government agencies, suggested considerable room for improvement in designing for dissemination; 73% of respondents estimated they spent less than 10% of their time on dissemination, and only about one-third of respondents always or usually involved stakeholders in the research process. Findings of the survey raise important questions about how research institutions can promote dissemination and implementation (D&I) and motivate researchers to place more emphasis on translating research findings into practice

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