Q&A moderated by Donna Mitrani, with reactors:

• Rosmin Esmail, Alberta Health Services
• Mary Goldberg, University of Pittsburgh
• Meg Ann Traci, University of Montana

Abstract: The realities of real-world implementation are that people make adaptations to programs and interventions. Typically, these adaptations happen at two key points in the implementation process: during initial implementation and during the sustainability phase. Adaptations can enhance stakeholder engagement and improve the fit of an intervention and KT strategies to the local context. Unfortunately, when adaptations are made to core components of an intervention, they may have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of the intervention. In this interactive session, you will learn to use a framework to proactively plan for adaptations that enhance stakeholder engagement and contextual fit while maintaining core components. You will also learn about three sustainability tools that can be used to plan for sustainability.

Q&A moderated by Donna Mitrani, with reactors:

• Rosmin Esmail
• Mary Goldberg
• Meg Ann Traci

Abstract: Knowledge translation (KT) has been described as an essential competency for health care practitioners in the 21st century. Diverse stakeholders must be able to work together to actively ensure that that policy, practice, and education are guided by the best available evidence. While an evidence base is predicated on effective knowledge translation, knowledge translation is not typically included in health and social science curricula. To address this gap, we have developed a Knowledge Translation graduate elective that blends didactic, experiential, and transformational learning by bringing together advanced graduate students and people with disabilities to form KT Collaboratives. While learning KT theories and practices, KT Collaborative members immerse themselves in an area of active research to cocreate knowledge products with guidance from a team of interdisciplinary experts. The KT Collaborative model makes intentional use of Masuda and colleagues’ Equity-Focused Knowledge Translation Framework. In this presentation, we will discuss KT Collaborative approach, share examples of knowledge products and their role in larger program development initiatives, and hear student and consumer perspectives on the experience.

Speakers will present innovative experiences and strategies to share research-based knowledge for policy impact from their unique perspectives.

• Panel Presentation 1: Research Informing Policy and Practice: Recent Examples from Australia at the Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels
• Panel Presentation 2: Disability Policy in the United States: Evidence and Implications
• Q&A moderated by Donna Mitrani, with reactors:
  • Rosmin Esmail
  • Mary Goldberg
  • Meg Ann Traci

Abstract - Presentation 1: The presentation will highlight three recent examples to support progressive policy and practice in community and social participation, early childhood intervention, and broader systemwide reform of the disability sector in Australia. The examples illustrate how research-backed evidence can influence the direction policy and practice at the organizational (micro), subsector or market (meso), and national-sector (macro) levels, where evidence about “what works, for whom, under what circumstances, at what cost” has been refreshed, collated, and used to positively influence models of care and support and funding for services and supports for people living with disability. A discussion will follow about the enablers, impediments, and conditions for success for research evidence to be effectively mobilized for impact.

Abstract - Presentation 2: The onset of a severe health impairment can alter the course of an individual's career, in many cases leading to an unexpected and substantial reduction in labor market activity and, ultimately, long-term claiming of Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. What factors affect whether someone with a work-limiting health impairment remains in the workforce, versus exiting the labor market? This presentation will review the empirical evidence on the determinants of labor force participation among individuals with disabilities, with special attention given to the role of U.S. disability policy.

Q&A moderated by Ann Outlaw, with reactors:

• Kate Dunn, Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
• Janet Panoch, The Amputee Coalition
• Jean Winsor, Institute for Community Inclusion

Abstract: The use of assessment in inpatient rehabilitation is increasingly critical to ensure consumers are receiving the recommended services. Despite the call for consistent use of standardized assessment, evidence across allied health professions demonstrates continued, limited use. By using assessments like the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), occupational therapy (OT) can better communicate its added value in rehabilitation. To address this existing gap, a combination of knowledge translation strategies and transformative curriculum design was implemented to address the lack of COPM use and explore the potential influence of self-reported self-efficacy and practice on clinical practice behavior.

Q&A moderated by Ann Outlaw, with reactors:

• Kate Dunn
• Janet Panoch
• Jean Winsor

Abstract: Responding to the acute and underrecognized difficulties people from sociocultural and marginalized groups with complex social needs face in accessing health and social services can be very challenging and potentially harmful. Social, cultural, religious, and language barriers can often lead to misinterpreted information, inaccurate conclusions, misunderstandings, and misdiagnosis. This presentation will engage participants in an interactive fashion to better understand the importance of addressing social and health care needs within a comprehensive sociocultural context.

Speakers will present innovative and experimental strategies in synthesizing and reporting evidence, sharing new ideas beyond the gold standard of systematic review.

• Panel Presentation 1: Innovative Approaches to Knowledge Translation: Evidence Platforms and Evidence Portals
• Panel Presentation 2: Systematic Reviews for a Complex World: New Avenues in Evidence Synthesis
• Panel Presentation 3: The Cochrane Rehabilitation e-Book Project: How to Deliver Key Messages to Different Audiences
• Q&A moderated by Ann Outlaw, with reactors:
  • Kate Dunn
  • Janet Panoch
  • Jean Winsor

Abstract - Presentation 1: Successful knowledge translation requires making research findings available to decision-makers in a timely and accessible manner. When decision-making devolves, the approach has to be through knowledge-brokering products, which are these days likely to be online. This talk focuses on evidence platforms and evidence portals, presenting a range of evidence-based decision-making tools from around the world, such as EEF’s Teacher and Learning Toolkit and the magicApp for doctors and their patients.

Abstract - Presentation 2: Evidence-based practice (EBP) depends upon the identification and clear communication of the essential elements of an intervention. However, with increasing recognition that the effectiveness of many health, education, and other social interventions is influenced by complex interplays of intervention characteristics and various contextual factors, users of systematic reviews have begun to raise concerns that a simplistic “what works on average” approach, which is common to many systematic reviews, is not useful and may be misleading. This session will focus on innovative approaches for identifying and reporting the critical components of complex interventions in systematic reviews.

Abstract - Presentation 3: Cochrane Rehabilitation’s main task is knowledge translation—that is, to diffuse the high-quality information of Cochrane Systematic Reviews (CSRs) in synthetic and easy-to-use messages for all rehabilitation stakeholders, thus improving the application of evidence-based clinical practice. The Cochrane Rehabilitation Review Committee tagged all the CSRs of rehabilitation interest, finding that one in 11 CSRs are on rehabilitation interventions (Levack, Rathore, Pollet, & Negrini, 2019).

Cochrane Rehabilitation is working on an e-book that will include all the tagged CSRs’ abstracts and plain-language summaries, plus four different summaries for the four major Cochrane Rehabilitation audiences—that is, clinicians, medical or health professional students, health managers and policymakers, and consumers (patients and their caregivers) (Moretti et al., 2019). The Cochrane Rehabilitation e-book is meant to be a simple and reliable tool to enhance the dissemination and application of evidence in clinical practice, medical education, health system policies, and in the community.

Q&A moderated by Kathleen Murphy, with reactors:

• Jessica Chaiken, National Rehabilitation Information Center
• Terry Donovan, University of Wisconsin-Stout
• Lauren Polvere, University at Albany

Abstract: Traditional media of specialized knowledge—scholarly articles and conference papers—today limit the efficacy of knowledge translation, which helps to explain the emergence of transmedia knowledge forms such as information comics, PechaKucha, community installations, and video blogs. Transmedia knowledge mixes expert and common knowledge, argument and story, and data and imagery in order to move across different media and engage a variety of stakeholders, including experts, end users, policymakers, and the general public.

This interactive presentation will showcase different genres of transmedia knowledge and present a method for combining argument and storytelling across different media forms. It will also demonstrate how transmedia knowledge facilitates innovation within research and knowledge translation projects, which tend to evolve from abstract, low-resolution media such as outlines and diagrams, through prototypes and drafts, and into concrete, high-resolution services and formal presentations and publications. At different phases of any project, innovation may be incremental or comprehensive. Connecting patient-centered care to human-centered design, this session will enable participants to situate their own innovation space and explore which transmedia forms are most relevant for their specific project and its different stakeholders.

Q&A moderated by Kathleen Murphy, with reactors:

• Jessica Chaiken
• Terry Donovan
• Lauren Polvere

Abstract: Young people who experience social marginalization, adverse experiences, complex needs, or multiple service use experience mental illness at higher rates than their less vulnerable peers (Farmer et al., 2001; Newton et al., 2012). Young people may use formal clinical services to address mental health concerns and are likely to require the services of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to address issues of housing, employment, education, recreation, and other social determinants of health, which are essential in supporting the well-being of young people (Ungar et al., 2013). The quality of programs that youth access is critical to ensuring a positive impact on young people (Yohalem & Wilson-Ahlstrom, 2010). Youth-serving NPOs often have limited access to, and internal capacity to use, research or evaluation information, which means that their programs do not benefit from emergent and evidence-based approaches (Mitchell, 2011). Over the past few years, several efforts have been made to overcome these internal and external barriers and ensure that NPOs are well placed to respond to the complex mental health needs of youth in Canada (Despard, 2016).

Wisdom2Action was funded by Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence as a Knowledge Mobilization network from 2011 to 2019 with $2.6 million CAD in funding. Wisdom2Action uses the Promoting Action on Research Implementation (PARiHS) framework to plan projects to gather, contextualize, and facilitate the uptake of best and promising promises in the youth-serving sector and thus support the mental health and well-being of children and youth in challenging contexts. The focus has been not only on getting research to knowledge users such as youth and community-based service providers but on finding and highlighting the practice-based evidence. Our approach has also been to entice nonprofit service providers into discussions about finding and building evidence for their programs through research, evaluation, and networks. Throughout our work, we have had a commitment to youth engagement as a principle and practice, and through many projects.

This presentation will include examples of how to achieve knowledge mobilization in the community-based sector, including embedding youth engagement in practice, facilitating the use of evidence-based practice through organization-to-organization mentorship, knowledge-sharing videos, and innovation funding. Evaluation results from programs will be shared.

Infocomics are an innovative and burgeoning KT strategy to communicate evidence in an easily understood format. A panel of NIDILRR grantees will discuss the ways they are planning, creating, disseminating, and evaluating infocomics to share best practices and evidence-based information.

• Panel Presentation 1:Why Comics for Knowledge Translation?
• Panel Presentation 2:Using Comics to Define Concepts
• Panel Presentation 3:Comics from a Young Adult Point of View
• Q&A moderated by Kathleen Murphy, with reactors:
  • Jessica Chaiken
  • Terry Donovan
  • Lauren Polvere

Abstract - Presentation 1: Health education presents many challenges. Often, people who experience chronic medical conditions have limited or no knowledge about their condition prior to contraction or the causal injury. The economic, physical, and social burdens that correlate with a chronic condition all act as barriers to the acquisition of new information, often to the detriment of long-term outcomes.

In this presentation, Silas will discuss how comics can make education and intervention appealing and engaging, can ease the acquisition of information, and can facilitate durable recall. Comics are a form of rich communication that allow for layered messages, increased identification with the content, and the flexibility to present information to many groups within the same document. Comics are radical; as a medium, they offer advantages to health educators in terms of increasing accessibility and effectiveness of health information.

Abstract - Presentation 2: The ADA National Network supports implementation of the ADA in local communities. Our role is to help translate knowledge about the ADA into language that members of communities can understand so that they can facilitate local access. To do this well, we must understand the barriers to implementation of the ADA. The Northeast ADA Center focused its research on small business employers (i.e., those with at least 15 and no more than 500 employees). This group is a prime population for research for the Northeast ADA Center because they encompass more than 98% of businesses in our region. Further, small business provides work for more than half of all people who are employed. While we knew small business was not traditionally well schooled in disability issues, the qualitative work we did in preparation for our survey illustrated that small employers did not understand key concepts related to disability and their legal requirements. To create a common understanding, we needed to provide brief, easy-to-understand definitions and context for critical terminology. During this panel discussion, we will share how and why we used comics to create a baseline of information to facilitate our survey effort.

Abstract - Presentation 3: Pathways Research and Training Center focuses its work on improving outcomes for older youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. Pathways’ staff includes young people who have experienced serious mental health conditions and who have participated in various types of treatments, services, and supports. These young people have taken the lead in developing the content for a series of e-learning tools (including the Pathways comics) that are intended to educate providers about best practices by showing how young people experience mental health challenges, services, and supports. Presenters will describe the process for developing the tools, their intended uses, and plans for their evaluation.