Stakeholder Perspectives of Attributes and Features of Context Relevant to Knowledge Translation in Health Settings: A Multi-Country Analysis

Background  Context is recognized as important to successful knowledge translation (KT) in health settings. What is meant by context, however, is poorly understood. The purpose of the current study was to elicit tacit knowledge about what is perceived to constitute context by conducting interviews with a variety of health system stakeholders internationally so as to compile a comprehensive list of contextual attributes and their features relevant to KT in healthcare. Methods  A descriptive qualitative study design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with health system stakeholders (change agents/KT specialists and KT researchers) in four countries: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Interview transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic content analysis in four steps: (۱) selection of utterances describing context, (۲) coding of features of context, (۳) categorizing of features into attributes of context, (۴) comparison of attributes and features by: country, KT experience, and role. Results  A total of ۳۹ interviews were conducted. We identified ۶۶ unique features of context, categorized into ۱۶ attributes. One attribute, Facility Characteristics, was not represented in previously published KT frameworks. We found instances of all ۱۶ attributes in the interviews irrespective of country, level of experience with KT, and primary role (change agent/KT specialist vs. KT researcher), revealing robustness and transferability of the attributes identified. We also identified ۳۰ new context features (across ۱۳ of the ۱۶ attributes). Conclusion  The findings from this study represent an important advancement in the KT field; we provide much needed conceptual clarity in context, which is essential to the development of common assessment tools to measure context to determine which context attributes and features are more or less important in different contexts for improving KT success.

کلیدواژه ها:

Context ، Knowledge Translation ، Implementation