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.

The Best-Laid Plans

This chapter opens with a story of how current beliefs and practices can have disastrous outcomes. It discusses the search to understand why front-line therapists and the treatment systems that employ them were not using empirically proven practices, and a new science that was investigating this research-to-practice gap. This chapter discusses the startling things discovered. Even if it could be guaranteed that every therapist would use evidence-based interventions with every patient every time, there would still be no way to measure and monitor the effectiveness of those validated treatments. In addition to evidence-based practice, a vital tool is still missing to make sure services result in sustained recovery. Along with evidence-based practices, performance-based practice is also needed.

When is the Evidence Sufficiently Supportive of Real-World Application? Evidence-Based Practices, Open Science, Clinical Readiness Level

The landscape of larger events surrounding school psychology has converged to present novel opportunities for narrowing the research-to-practice gap. There is widespread agreement on the value of a scientist-practitioner model and the use of evidence-based practices, yet there remain questions as to exactly how these core concepts are realized. A discussion on whether psychological science can be relied on to deliver real-world practices related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led IJzerman and colleagues to develop a rubric to evaluate research for real world application called Evidence Readiness Level. This model is adapted for school psychologists’ use in evaluating and implementing research for clinical practice. Clinical Readiness Level is a rubric that is designed to narrow the research-to-practice gap, provide criteria for evidence-based practices, and specify the value of a scientist-practitioner model of school psychology.