James-McAlpine, Janelle, Larkins, Sarah, and Nagle, Cate (2023) Exploring the evidence base for Communities of Practice in health research and translation: a scoping review. Health Research Policy and Systems, 21. 55.

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Abstract

Background: The translation of research into healthcare practice relies on effective communication between disciplines, however strategies to address the gap between information sharing and knowledge transfer are still under exploration. Communities of Practice (CoP) are informal networks of stakeholders with shared knowledge or endeavour and present an opportunity to address this gap beyond disciplinary boundaries. However, the evidence-base supporting their development, implementation and efficacy in health is not well described. This review explores the evidence underpinning the use of CoP in health research and translation.

Methods: A scoping review was undertaken using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. A comprehensive search of health databases and grey literature was performed using keywords and controlled vocabulary. Studies were not restricted by date or research method.

Results: A total of 1355 potentially relevant articles were identified through the global search strategy. Following screening, six articles were retained for analysis. Included studies were published between 2002 and 2013 in the United Kingdom (n = 3), Canada (n = 2) and Italy (n = 1). Three papers reported primary research; one used a quantitative methodology, one a qualitative, and one a descriptive evaluation approach. The three remaining papers explored seminal and evolving theories of CoP in the context of knowledge transfer and translation to the health sector.

Conclusions: A paucity of evidence exists regarding the development and efficacy of CoP in health research and translation. Further empirical research is required to determine if communities of practice can enhance the translation of research into clinical practice.

Item ID:	79123
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1478-4505
Keywords:	Community of practice, Community of interest, Health research, Research translation, Knowledge transfer
Copyright Information:	© Crown 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Funders:	National Health and Medical Research Council Australia (NHMRC), Womens Health Research, Translation and Impact Network
Date Deposited:	20 Jun 2023 23:23
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420312 Implementation science and evaluation @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420311 Health systems @ 50%
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