Grant: Project Grant - PA: Human Development, Child and Youth Health

Children receiving occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and/or speech therapy for development and rehabilitation deserve care based on the best available knowledge. Unfortunately, this does not always happen because people are not aware of current research or best available treatments. Sharing this type of knowledge is supported by connections between people and across groups. We aim to understand how these connections work to help or hinder researchers, therapists, and families across Canada to share this knowledge, and make recommendations for improvement. Methods: A social network analysis (SNA) approach will be used. We will ask participants about their connections (i.e., networks) with others related to child development and rehabilitation. Aim 1. Collect data about people's current networks by sending surveys to three Canadian groups: a) researchers, b) therapists, c) families. SNA software will be used to find and describe strong knowledge sharing connections and weak connections or gaps. We will analyze data for each province and territory, as well as the whole country, to create visual maps of these networks. Aim 2. Fifteen participants from each group (researchers, therapists, families) will be interviewed. We will recruit people who differ in how strongly they are connected with others, and who are diverse in gender, (dis)ability level, age, and other factors. Interviews will ask what is working well (enablers), and what can be improved (barriers) for knowledge sharing. Aim 3. Develop recommendations to improve knowledge sharing on a local and national scale, that build on the strengths of enablers and address barriers. Conclusion: We want to understand 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 improved care and outcomes for children with development and rehabilitation needs using evidence-based practices.