Abstract:Despite limitations in existing evidence, the concept and practice of KT holds potential value for mental health care providers. Understanding of, and familiarity with, effective approaches to KT holds the potential to enhance providers' treatment approaches and to promote the use of new knowledge in practice to enhance outcomes.
“…The blogs were also written in a clear and concise manner, with minimal jargon, and a conversational tone [14, 25], akin to the style of newspaper reports [26]. They were also delivered directly to users’ inbox via a weekly newsletter [27], and presented in a format suitable for mobile phones, tablets or related devices [26, 28].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They were also delivered directly to users’ inbox via a weekly newsletter [27], and presented in a format suitable for mobile phones, tablets or related devices [26, 28]. The blogs often summarised relevant research findings [25, 29] and provided clear and concrete recommendations [14, 30].…”
BackgroundThere is a need to develop innovations that can help bridge the gap between research and policy. Web CIPHER is an online tool designed to help policymakers better engage with research in order to increase its use in health policymaking. The aim of the present study was to test interventions in order to increase policymakers’ usage of Web CIPHER. Namely, the impact of posting articles and blogs on topics relevant to the missions and scope of selected policy agencies in the Web CIPHER community.MethodsFive policy agencies were targeted for the intervention. Web CIPHER usage data was gathered over a 30-month period using Google Analytics. Time series analysis was used to evaluate whether publication of tailored articles and blogs led to significant changes in usage for all Web CIPHER members from policy agencies, including those from the five target agencies. We further evaluated whether these users showed greater increases in usage following publication of articles and blogs directly targeted at their agency, and if these effects were moderated by the blog author.ResultsWeb CIPHER usage gradually increased over time and was significantly predicted by the number of articles but not blogs that were posted throughout the study period. Publication of articles on sexual and reproductive health was followed by sustained increases in usage among all users, including users from the policy agency that targets this area. This effect of topic relevance did not occur for the four remaining target agencies. Finally, page views were higher for articles targeted at one’s agency compared to other agencies. This effect also occurred for blogs, particularly when the author was internal to one’s agency.ConclusionThe findings suggest that Web CIPHER usage in general was motivated by general interest, engagement and appeal, as opposed to the agency specificity of content and work relevance. Blogs in and of themselves may not be effective at promoting usage. Thus, in order to increase policymakers’ engagement with research through similar online platforms, a potentially effective approach would be to post abundant, frequently updated, engaging, interesting and widely appealing content irrespective of form.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12961-016-0157-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
“…The blogs were also written in a clear and concise manner, with minimal jargon, and a conversational tone [14, 25], akin to the style of newspaper reports [26]. They were also delivered directly to users’ inbox via a weekly newsletter [27], and presented in a format suitable for mobile phones, tablets or related devices [26, 28].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They were also delivered directly to users’ inbox via a weekly newsletter [27], and presented in a format suitable for mobile phones, tablets or related devices [26, 28]. The blogs often summarised relevant research findings [25, 29] and provided clear and concrete recommendations [14, 30].…”
BackgroundThere is a need to develop innovations that can help bridge the gap between research and policy. Web CIPHER is an online tool designed to help policymakers better engage with research in order to increase its use in health policymaking. The aim of the present study was to test interventions in order to increase policymakers’ usage of Web CIPHER. Namely, the impact of posting articles and blogs on topics relevant to the missions and scope of selected policy agencies in the Web CIPHER community.MethodsFive policy agencies were targeted for the intervention. Web CIPHER usage data was gathered over a 30-month period using Google Analytics. Time series analysis was used to evaluate whether publication of tailored articles and blogs led to significant changes in usage for all Web CIPHER members from policy agencies, including those from the five target agencies. We further evaluated whether these users showed greater increases in usage following publication of articles and blogs directly targeted at their agency, and if these effects were moderated by the blog author.ResultsWeb CIPHER usage gradually increased over time and was significantly predicted by the number of articles but not blogs that were posted throughout the study period. Publication of articles on sexual and reproductive health was followed by sustained increases in usage among all users, including users from the policy agency that targets this area. This effect of topic relevance did not occur for the four remaining target agencies. Finally, page views were higher for articles targeted at one’s agency compared to other agencies. This effect also occurred for blogs, particularly when the author was internal to one’s agency.ConclusionThe findings suggest that Web CIPHER usage in general was motivated by general interest, engagement and appeal, as opposed to the agency specificity of content and work relevance. Blogs in and of themselves may not be effective at promoting usage. Thus, in order to increase policymakers’ engagement with research through similar online platforms, a potentially effective approach would be to post abundant, frequently updated, engaging, interesting and widely appealing content irrespective of form.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12961-016-0157-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
“…As background to this larger study, a narrative review conducted by one of the authors identified substantial gaps between science and practice in the field of mental health. The review found that KT strategies may hold particular value in strengthening MHS (Goldner ). It concluded thatMore so than in other areas of health care, mental health is an area in which detrimental and stigmatizing misinformation is widespread and resistant to modification, both among the general public and health care providers … Consequently, effective approaches to KT may be particularly important to facilitate exchange and uptake of high quality knowledge related to mental health.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It concluded thatMore so than in other areas of health care, mental health is an area in which detrimental and stigmatizing misinformation is widespread and resistant to modification, both among the general public and health care providers … Consequently, effective approaches to KT may be particularly important to facilitate exchange and uptake of high quality knowledge related to mental health. (Goldner )…”
“…This experience immersed me in the fledgling fields of knowledge translation and implementation science. 27 Despite significant advances in health care practice and policy, efforts to apply such advances to improve the quality of services often falter and perish during the stage of implementation. 28 Health care services reside in complex systems and, once set along a path, they may be difficult to shift, even when a change in course may be of great benefit to all parties.…”
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