Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Traditional methods for bridging research and practice in child and adolescent mental health, such as journal articles and conference presentations, focus primarily on a one-way method of knowledge transfer (KT) and are largely ineffective. The proposed research will compare and contrast one-way models of KT with an interactive partnership model that emphasizes dialogue as a means of sharing, clarifying, and adapting knowledge across disciplines. It is hypothesized that this two-way model will be more effective in bridging research and practice in child and adolescent mental health. Using questionnaires, social network mapping software, an online assessment tool, and interviews, the initiation and development of partnerships within PREVNet, a national bullying prevention and child development network of 45 national-level non-governmental agencies, 55 researchers, and 70 graduate students will be documented. Partnerships will be categorized as using primarily one-way or two-way methods of KT. These methods of sharing knowledge will be compared with respect to their ability to enable health practitioners to effectively understand and apply research findings in their practice settings. Results of this research will significantly improve our understanding of how to share knowledge in interdisciplinary collaborations throughout the field of mental health. The health implications are far reaching: an increased ability to optimize the allocation of limited resources means that mental health services to young people and their families can be improved without incurring additional costs. Effective knowledge sharing will enable researchers and practitioners to increase the impact of their own resources and talents to improve the mental health of young Canadians. An increased ability to share knowledge will improve collaborations across all fields of health allowing Canadians can grow up in a coordinated health system that is grounded in relevant research evidence.