Abstract
BackgroundAs implementation science advances, the number of interventions to promote the translation of evidence into healthcare, health systems, or health policy is growing. Accordingly, classification schemes for these knowledge translation (KT) interventions have emerged. A recent scoping review identified 51 classification schemes of KT interventions to integrate evidence into healthcare practice; however, the review did not evaluate the quality of the classification schemes or provide detailed information to assist researchers in selecting a scheme for their context and purpose. This study aimed to further examine and assess the quality of these classification schemes of KT interventions, and provide information to aid researchers when selecting a classification scheme.MethodsWe abstracted the following information from each of the original 51 classification scheme articles: authors’ objectives; purpose of the scheme and field of application; socioecologic level (individual, organizational, community, system); adaptability (broad versus specific); target group (patients, providers, policy-makers), intent (policy, education, practice), and purpose (dissemination versus implementation). Two reviewers independently evaluated the methodological quality of the development of each classification scheme using an adapted version of the AGREE II tool. Based on these assessments, two independent reviewers reached consensus about whether to recommend each scheme for researcher use, or not.ResultsOf the 51 original classification schemes, we excluded seven that were not specific classification schemes, not accessible or duplicates. Of the remaining 44 classification schemes, nine were not recommended. Of the 35 recommended classification schemes, ten focused on behaviour change and six focused on population health. Many schemes (n = 29) addressed practice considerations. Fewer schemes addressed educational or policy objectives. Twenty-five classification schemes had broad applicability, six were specific, and four had elements of both. Twenty-three schemes targeted health providers, nine targeted both patients and providers and one targeted policy-makers. Most classification schemes were intended for implementation rather than dissemination.ConclusionsThirty-five classification schemes of KT interventions were developed and reported with sufficient rigour to be recommended for use by researchers interested in KT in healthcare. Our additional categorization and quality analysis will aid in selecting suitable classification schemes for research initiatives in the field of implementation science.
Highlights
As implementation science advances, the number of interventions to promote the translation of evidence into healthcare, health systems, or health policy is growing
With the advancement of implementation science, knowledge translation (KT) interventions to promote the translation of research evidence into practice are increasing considerably
The Knowledge Translation Methods Working Group, which is an initiative of the Knowledge Translation Platform of the Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) SUPPORT Unit, undertook a more in-depth analysis of the classification schemes identified by Lokker et al The purpose of this study was to examine the classification schemes in more detail, extract additional information, and assess the developmental and methodological quality of each, in order to guide researchers to the tool that might be most appropriate for their specific purpose and context
Summary
The number of interventions to promote the translation of evidence into healthcare, health systems, or health policy is growing. A recent scoping review identified 51 classification schemes of KT interventions to integrate evidence into healthcare practice; the review did not evaluate the quality of the classification schemes or provide detailed information to assist researchers in selecting a scheme for their context and purpose. One recent narrative review identified 41 different conceptual frameworks to describe and measure key elements of the process for translating research evidence into policy and practice [4]. Another narrative review identified 61 theories and models to provide a systematic way of understanding, developing and evaluating dissemination and implementation research [2]. Both are important to improve the reporting and generalizability of KT interventions
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