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Learning Objective 1: describe how Communities of Practice may be a useful framework as the catalyst of knowledge translation.
Learning Objective 2: describe how to form Communities of Practice in your organization as a means to achieve evidence-based practice.
The term “Community of Practice” (CoP) is a relatively new term to healthcare although the concept has been around for some time. For years, business organizations have recognized that knowledge is a valuable commodity that needs to be managed strategically and have successfully adopted CoP. The origin of CoP framework has been in learning theory when anthropologists were studying apprenticeship as a learning model. CoP are defined as, “Groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.”
The paradigm of knowledge translation has seen remarkable uptake in a short period of time with national and international organizations endorsing knowledge translation as a means for applying scientific evidence into practice. However, the actual practice of knowledge translation has many challenges. Several research translation models have separated research and practice into distinct domains, thereby expanding the already significant divide between theorists and practitioners. The authors propose applying the concepts of the CoP framework as the conduit for the integration of practitioners’ tacit knowledge, scientific evidence and patients’ preferences to truly achieve evidence-based practice. How this can be achieved will be explained in this presentation.