Grant: Project Grant

Children receiving healthcare to support their development and rehabilitation needs deserve treatment based on the best available knowledge. Unfortunately, this care does not always happen because people are not aware of current research or the best treatments to use. Connections between people and across groups can help in sharing this type of knowledge. We aim to understand how these connections work to help or hinder knowledge sharing and use among researchers, clinicians, knowledge brokers, and families across Canada. Methods: This study builds on a CIHR bridge-funded Canada-wide social network analysis (SNA) survey. We will interview participants about their connections (i.e., networks) with others related to child development and rehabilitation, and develop recommendations to improve knowledge sharing and use. Objective 1: Interview participants from each of four stakeholder groups (researchers, clinicians, knowledge brokers, families). We will recruit people who differ in how connected they are with others, and who are diverse in gender, ethnicity, (dis)ability level, age, and other factors. Interviews will ask what is working well and what can be improved for knowledge sharing. Objective 2: Develop recommendations to improve knowledge sharing on a local and national scale, which build on what is working well, and address barriers. Participants from each stakeholder group and select study team members will take part in a series of anonymous surveys to develop these recommendations. In the future, these recommendations can be used to design and test strategies to improve knowledge sharing. Conclusion: We want to develop a deep understanding of the strengths and gaps of knowledge sharing networks in child development and rehabilitation in Canada so we can make recommendations to improve them. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance knowledge sharing and use, which is required to enhance care and outcomes for children with development and rehabilitation needs.