Abstract
BackgroundKnowledge translation (KT) is an important means of improving the health service quality. Most research on the effectiveness of KT strategies has focused on individual strategies, i.e., those directly targeting the modification of allied health professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, for example. In general, these strategies are moderately effective in changing practices (maximum 10% change). Effecting change in organizational contexts (e.g., change readiness, general and specific organizational capacity, organizational routines) is part of a promising new avenue to service quality improvement through the implementation of evidence-based practices. The objective of this study will be to identify why, how, and under what conditions organizational KT strategies have been shown to be effective or ineffective in changing the (a) knowledge, (b) attitudes, and (c) clinical behaviors of allied health professionals in traumatology settings.MethodsThis is a realist review protocol involving four iterative steps: (1) Initial theory formulation, (2) search for Evidence search, (3) knowledge extraction and synthesis, and (4) recommendations. We will search electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Cochrane Library, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science. The studies included will be those relating to the use of organizational KT strategies in trauma settings, regardless of study designs, published between January 1990 and October 2020, and presenting objective measures that demonstrate change in allied health professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and clinical behaviors. Two independent reviewers will select, screen, and extract the data related to all relevant sources in order to refine or refute the context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations developed in the initial theory and identify new CMO configurations.DiscussionUsing a systematic and rigorous method, this review will help guide decision-makers and researchers in choosing the best organizational strategies to optimize the implementation of evidence-based practices.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42020216105
Highlights
Knowledge translation (KT) is an important means of improving the health service quality
Using a systematic and rigorous method, this review will help guide decision-makers and researchers in choosing the best organizational strategies to optimize the implementation of evidence-based practices in the trauma field
Researchers have explained some of the challenges that are specific to realist reviews
Summary
Study design We will conduct a realist review [24]. We report this realist review protocol following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for. From a methodological point of view, researchers begin by extracting from the literature the main ideas that relate to a class of interventions (the initial theories) These initial theories explain how and why a class of interventions (in this case, organizational KT strategies) work and generate the outcome(s) of interest (in this case, change in the knowledge, attitudes, and clinical behaviors of allied health professionals in traumatology settings). We will hold a 1.5-h, audio-recorded, group discussion to develop a first draft theory answering the following question: how (context and mechanism) an organizational KT strategy (intervention) has been shown to be effective or ineffective in changing the (a) knowledge, (b) attitudes, and (c) clinical behaviors of allied health professionals (outcomes). Traditional methods such as article publication and presentation at national or international conferences will be used
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