KT Strategies Resources

A man in a library room is reading from a braille book, and a women at the same table looks at a laptop computer screen.

The Center on KTDRR develops and makes available on its website a number of products for use by researchers and interested parties. These include a monograph, informational briefs, e-newsletters, archives of training and technical assistance activities such as workshops and webcasts, and an annual KT casebook.

Policy Portal

  • The Policy Portal is a directory of consumer-oriented organizations NIDILRR grantees can use to promote their research findings and connect with organizations included in the directory.

Info Briefs

  • Knowledge Translation: The Rise of Implementation is a monograph commissioned by the Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (KTDRR). Lead author Melanie Barwick is an internationally recognized expert in knowledge translation (KT) and implementation science (IS). Raluca Dubrowski and Kadia Petricca complete the author team. The monograph provides an update of the KT literature and reflects on advancements in the KT process, as well as KT’s relationship with IS. KT practices related to disability research are highlighted along with a look at future directions in KT.

  • Engaging Stakeholders for Research Impact defines stakeholder engagement, describes different types of stakeholders and addresses why research projects should focus on engagement. Author Dr. Tamika Heiden is the founder and principal of Knowledge Translation Australia. She has over 15 years of experience in translating research into practice. Joining Dr. Heiden as a contributing author is a member of the Center on KTDRR's Expert Review Panel, Dr. Toni Saia, an activist, professor and researcher who brings lived experience with disability to her work. Dr. Saia shares an example of how her collaborative research project resulted in accessibility improvements.

  • New Methods and Technologies for Keeping Systematic Reviews Up to Date outlines innovations in bibliographic data searching that may be helpful in identifying studies for systematic reviews. James Thomas, deputy director of the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) at University College London, begins with an overview of methods currently used to search existing bibliographic databases. Next, he examines changes in the collection of bibliographic databases and recent advances in methods for retrieval of information, including a study using Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG) and OpenAlex as single-source databases. Finally, he illustrates the potential these new developments hold for the systematic review process with a case study of the EPPI-Centre’s living systematic map of COVID 19 research.

KT Tip Sheets

  • KT Tip Sheet #1: Resources for Social Media Data and Analytics This KT Tip Sheet provides summaries of resources recommended during a November 2022 Center on KTDRR webcast, "Social Media: How to Use Data and Analytics." They are arranged in topical groups: overviews of using data to understand digital users better; story mapping to understand users’ journeys; using data visualization to tell stories about your data; and illustrations of data visualization.

KT Resources & Tools

  • Directory of Journals/Author Guidelines: We have collected descriptions and author guidelines for 223 journals in the disability and rehabilitation field, including Thomson peer-reviewed journals.

  • KT Library: The KT Library is designed to provide information to NIDILRR grantees and interested members of the public about a wide spectrum of knowledge translation and evidence-based resources. Links are given with a brief description of the purpose or focus of each resource.

  • KT Strategies Database: The Knowledge Translation (KT) Strategies Database brings together research evidence on Knowledge Translation tools and strategies. Articles address approaches to translating, disseminating, and utilizing knowledge.

KT Casebook

The KTDRR staff develops a KT Casebook to showcase NIDILRR grantees’ KT activities. The purposes of the casebook are to share examples of successful and less successful KT strategies, demonstrate change created through KT activities, identifying factors that affect KT success, and demonstrate outcomes and impact of KT activities.

Standards for Assistive Technology Funding: What are the Right Criteria?

Developed by the KTDRR's Assistive Technology (AT) Working Group, this white paper addresses the issue of the expectation of an evidence-based standard to determine AT product efficacy, and the impact of this standard on the transfer, use, and payment for assistive technologies designed for persons with disabilities. Members of the AT Working Group represent five key stakeholder groups (AT consumers, AT service providers, AT researchers and methodologists, AT manufacturers/product developers, and AT payers and policymakers) that comprise the entire system of manufacture, prescription, application, funding, reimbursement, and efficacy research within each field of AT devices and services.