Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

A major challenge in healthcare is getting the newest, most effective treatments from the research phase into regular clinical use. Two of the biggest issues are gaps in communication among researchers and clinicians, and reluctance of healthcare providers and administrators to change (for many reasons). My goal is to define the best ways to ensure research gets used in rehabilitation centres, in order to improve the effectiveness of care for Canadian children. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I treat children with special needs. Nationwide, 40% of these children do not receive the most up-to-date rehabilitation care; 20% more receive treatments that research has shown are ineffective at best, and can even be harmful. For example, studies have consistently shown that children with cerebral palsy who have one-sided arm weakness, show the best improvements with a treatment called constraint-induced therapy (CIT). Yet in a recent Canadian study, not one therapist named CIT as a treatment of choice. My research will begin with a scan of children's rehabilitation and research centres across Canada to identify processes/relationships that support the exchange of knowledge between researchers and healthcare providers. Two centres, each with a different set of approaches, will then be analyzed to map the interpersonal connections between members of each group, and to describe the nature of the relationships/interactions that help promote -or slow- the exchange of knowledge. I will then test how these relationships optimize research use. This will be the first study of its kind. It will provide a set of methods for bridging research with care, and will define scientifically evaluated strategies to enhance the interpersonal connections between researchers and healthcare providers. By making sure research and healthcare services intersect, and we can ensure all children have access to the most effective healthcare innovations available, and reach their full potential.