Research Study Awards announced

The Elizabeth Casson Trust is excited to be able to announce our first research study awards. Two awards have been made following a call earlier this year for proposals addressing the translation of evidence into practice. The recipients of the awards and their studies are shown below:

Learn@Lunch: The occupation of drinking alcohol in later life Dr Fiona Maclean, Queen Margaret University £23,502  Completion April 2022

This study aims to translate the existing knowledge findings from a published body of work exploring the occupation of drinking alcohol in later life. It will create a Learn@Lunch workshop programme which will seek to transform existing occupational therapy practitioner knowledge and awareness related to the changing patterns of drinking alcohol in older age (65+ years). This will include sharing and implementing knowledge connected to the life transitions of older age and how these can be understood and informed by a theoretical perspective of collective occupation and healthfulness. In addition, the project will also co-create, in partnership with therapists, occupation focused and person-centred implementation actions that will respond to the needs of older people who consume alcohol, to support an older person’s right to make informed decisions about drinking in later life.

More widely this project will also offer an evidenced-based template to support an upscaling of existing findings across the UK, including the effectiveness of Learn@Lunch programmes generally as a mechanism of knowledge mobilisation in practice.

Can a targeted knowledge translation intervention increase implementation and adoption of evidence in practice by community children’s occupational therapists? Dr Carolyn Dunford, Brunel University London £94,186  Completion March 2023

This study aims to evaluate an intervention to facilitate implementation and adoption of evidence in practice by community occupational therapists working with children/young people with disabilities and their families.

Currently it is known that some services deliver traditional approaches not supported by published evidence of effective interventions for occupational therapists working with children and young people with disabilities. Knowledge requires translation and application to the local setting for it to be adopted and implemented. Literature identifies that the barriers to this research implementation include lack of leadership, knowledge, resources and mentorship (Imms et al, 2020; Milton, Roe, Newby, 2020). Implementation requires behaviour change by the clinicians.

Five study sites will be recruited from the Mind the Gap EBP community. An evidence library will be made available to all sites and baseline data on knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and adherence to Professional standards on evidence based practice will be collected. A knowledge translation intervention will be implemented using proven techniques (Michie et al, 2015; Kok et al, 2016 Imms et al., 2020) and determinants of behaviour change will be identified. Success of the study intervention will be measured by increased knowledge, implementation and adoption of evidence in practice resulting in changes in practice.

The Trust would like to extend their congratulations to Dr Maclean and Dr Dunford and look forward to the studies progressing and generating findings that will be beneficial for the profession.