Narrowing the research-practice gap in project management

A área de Gerenciamento de Projetos (GP) é um domínio orientado à prática, mas as abordagens baseadas na prática permanecem sub-representadas em comparação com estudos teóricos e empíricos. Este cenário abre espaço para um melhor entendimento de como promover o engajamento entre acadêmicos e profissionais para estudar tópicos relevantes para a prática, que têm um efeito diário nas partes interessadas em GP. Este artigo visa contribuir com recomendações sobre formas compreensíveis de engajamento de pesquisa com profissionais que abordarão a lacuna da prática de pesquisa em GP. As recomendações estão alicerçadas na lacuna prática-pesquisa apontada por pesquisadores da Administração e de GP. Elas são escritas como ações para promover o envolvimento de profissionais que trabalham com projetos de pesquisa orientados à prática, para chamar a atenção de editores e responsáveis por conferências para tornar os profissionais parte da literatura de campo de GP e preencher a lacuna deixada por pesquisadores que negligenciam contribuições de utilidade prática. As recomendações também estão associadas ao processo de pesquisa e publicação, redação de teses, dissertações, artigos, relatórios e à comunidade de GP. Assim, o artigo tem uma dupla contribuição: 1. Conscientizar sobre o surgimento de pesquisas envolvendo profissionais e acadêmicos por meio de diferentes projetos de pesquisa; e 2. Fornecer uma compilação de ações para melhorar o engajamento entre profissionais e pesquisadores.

Roadmaps for Reflection: Implementation Drivers to Bridge the Research-to-Practice Gap in Early Childhood Intervention

Training alone will not enable early childhood practitioners to operationalize evidence-based practices. When newly learned practices do not immediately work as intended, the temptation to return to old ways can be great. Moving an innovation from research to practice may require the use of implementation drivers. The field of implementation science informs us of the need for ongoing support during the implementation process. Implementation guides using a flow chart design may assist practitioners to implement evidence-based practices with fidelity immediately after training. This article provides a framework for developing implementation guides to move quickly from knowledge to utilization after a training occurs as well as a means to consider the usefulness of flowcharts for driving implementation efforts.

Implementation of a Cellulitis Management Plan in Three Australian Regional Health Services to Address an Evidence–Practice Gap in Antibiotic Prescribing

Despite the availability of evidence-based guidelines, antibiotics for cellulitis remain inappropriately prescribed. This evidence–practice gap is more evident in low-resource settings, such as rural hospitals. This implementation study developed and introduced a cellulitis management plan to improve antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis in three health services in regional Australia. Appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis at Day 1 was the primary outcome measure. Adults with ICD-10-AM codes for lower-limb cellulitis admitted as inpatients of the three health services between May and November 2019 (baseline, n = 165) and March and October 2020 (post-implementation, n = 127) were included in the assessment. The uptake of the cellulitis management plan was 29.1% (37/127). The appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis at Day 1 was similar at baseline (78.7%, 144/183) and in the intention-to-treat post-implementation group (81.8%, 126/154) [95% CI −5.6% to 11.3%, p = 0.50]. Commencement of the cellulitis management plan resulted in a non-statistically significant increase in antibiotic appropriateness at Day 1 compared to when a cellulitis management plan was not commenced (88.1% vs. 79.5%; 95% CI −5.6% to 19.8%; p = 0.20) Evaluation of more real-world strategies to address evidence–practice gaps, such as the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis, is required.

Finding common (research) ground between general practitioners and neuroscientists: the vital role of knowledge circulation in closing the evidence-to-practice gap

Background It may take 15 years or longer before research evidence is integrated into clinical practice. This evidence-to-practice gap has deleterious effects on patients as well as research and clinical processes. Bringing clinical knowledge into the research process, however, has the potential to close the evidence-to-practice gap. The NEUROTRANS-Project attempts to bring research and practice together by focusing on two groups that usually operate separately in their communities: general practitioners and neuroscientists. Although both groups focus on dementia as an area of work, they do so in different contexts and without opportunities to share their expertise. Finding new treatment pathways for patients with dementia will require an equal knowledge exchange among researchers and clinicians along with the integration of that knowledge into research processes, so that both groups will benefit from the expertise of the other. Methods The NEUROTRANS-Project uses a qualitative, multi-stage research design to explore how neuroscientists and general practitioners (GPs) approach dementia. Using a grounded theory methodology, it analyzes semi-structured interviews, case vignettes, focus groups with GPs in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and informal conversations with, and observations of, neuroscientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Magdeburg. Results The NEUROTRANS-Project identified a clear division of labor between two highly specialized professional groups. Neuroscientists focus abstractly on nosology whereas general practitioners tend to patient care following a hermeneutic approach integrating the patients’ perspective of illness. These different approaches to dementia create a barrier to constructive dialogue and the capacity of these groups to do research together with a common aim. Additionally, the broader system of research funding and health care within which the two groups operate reinforces their divide thereby limiting joint research capacity. Conclusions Overcoming barriers to research collaboration between general practitioners and neuroscientists requires a shift in perspective in which both groups actively engage with the other’s viewpoints to facilitate knowledge circulation (KC). Bringing ‘art into science and science into art’, i.e. amalgamating the hermeneutic approach with the perspective of nosology, is the first step in developing joint research agendas that have the potential to close the evidence-to-practice gap.

Considering the corporeal to facilitate research to practice transitions

PurposeThe authors suggest that the research-to-practice gap, such as that found in evidence-based management, is due in part to a lack of attention to embodied knowledge. The recommendation is for change agents to bring attention to embodied knowing when implementing change based on research. The purpose of the paper is to address the research-to-practice gap.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that considers limitations of the predominant approach to considering the research-to-practice gap. The literature on phenomenology, feminist theory, and learning theory form the basis for exploring these challenges as well as possible solutions for transcending the research-to-practice gap.FindingsStrategic opportunities for introducing increased corporeal understanding are advanced. The suggestions address the research-to-practice gap at three critical stages of research-based change initiatives. These include making embodied knowledge integral to change initiatives in framing research, reducing resistance, and increasing acceptance. Among the specific strategies discussed are attending to tacit knowledge when considering the change, embracing the embrained body including attending to kinesthetic resistance and starting with the body to increase acceptance when implementing change.Originality/valueThere has been very little previous attention to the corporeal in management research and practice, including in the organizational change literature. This paper not only increases this discussion significantly but also provides suggestions for how to move forward in practice.