Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Emerging challenges in diabetes prevention and control call for a paradigm shift in our models for translating knowledge into practice from a linear, unidirectional, researcher-driven model where practitioners must wait for research grants to conclude, to an integrated, interactive, multidirectional model in which practitioners are actively engaged at each stage of a cyclical process of knowledge creation.
Objectives: To construct a dynamic framework for diabetes prevention and control that integrates the research-to-practice and practice-to-research translation routes into a multidirectional exchange.
Method: We reviewed published frameworks and consulted with colleagues. We conducted a comparative analysis and drafted a new framework to meet emerging diabetes prevention and control needs.
Results: An integrated model, as opposed to the traditional end-of-grant model, more effectively bridges the gap between generating evidence and putting results into practice. While a research-driven model keeps decisions on one side of the equation, an interactive model can help ensure that policymakers and practitioners are more engaged in the research process, aid researchers in developing clear and actionable messages while increasing knowledge uptake among practitioners. Furthermore, a cyclical model elucidates the fact that translation is never finished but remains an iterative process of innovation. Finally, a multidirectional model allows for channels of information exchange among participants, including researchers, policymakers, practitioners, stakeholders, and the public. This exchange can create a sense of ownership and supportive partnerships in the process of knowledge creation, which in turn can empower community-based mobilization and engagement.
Conclusion: The new integrated, interactive, cyclical, and multidirectional framework responds to the call for a paradigm shift and addresses the limitations of existing models. It may also encourage citizens to work together in overcoming translation barriers while improving the impact of diabetes prevention and control interventions at an individual, community, system, and society level.
Objectives: To construct a dynamic framework for diabetes prevention and control that integrates the research-to-practice and practice-to-research translation routes into a multidirectional exchange.
Method: We reviewed published frameworks and consulted with colleagues. We conducted a comparative analysis and drafted a new framework to meet emerging diabetes prevention and control needs.
Results: An integrated model, as opposed to the traditional end-of-grant model, more effectively bridges the gap between generating evidence and putting results into practice. While a research-driven model keeps decisions on one side of the equation, an interactive model can help ensure that policymakers and practitioners are more engaged in the research process, aid researchers in developing clear and actionable messages while increasing knowledge uptake among practitioners. Furthermore, a cyclical model elucidates the fact that translation is never finished but remains an iterative process of innovation. Finally, a multidirectional model allows for channels of information exchange among participants, including researchers, policymakers, practitioners, stakeholders, and the public. This exchange can create a sense of ownership and supportive partnerships in the process of knowledge creation, which in turn can empower community-based mobilization and engagement.
Conclusion: The new integrated, interactive, cyclical, and multidirectional framework responds to the call for a paradigm shift and addresses the limitations of existing models. It may also encourage citizens to work together in overcoming translation barriers while improving the impact of diabetes prevention and control interventions at an individual, community, system, and society level.