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Study Objectives

1. Extend current knowledge of facilitation as a process for translating research evidence into practice
2. Evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of two different models of facilitation in promoting the uptake of research evidence on continence promotion
3. To advance current knowledge of guideline implementation in healthcare, with a particular focus on understanding the impact of contextual factors on the processes and outcomes of implementation
4. Implement a pro-active dissemination strategy that complements the design of the study and facilitates the diffusion of the study findings to a wide policy and practice community throughout Europe and beyond.

Work Plan

This project comprises five inter-related work packages, which together comprise a study to identify and validate key factors that influence the successful implementation of research evidence into practice and to disseminate the learning from the research as widely as possible. The intervention study (WP3), which forms a substantive part of the empirical work, is supported by theoretical and methodological development in work packages 1 and 2. In work package 1, the facilitation interventions to be tested will be rigorously developed, informed by relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge, and taught by international experts in the area. The evaluation package (WP 2) ensures that data reflecting the complexity of implementing evidence into practice are captured. These data will include measures of the context in which evidence is implemented and the facilitation processes that support implementation and will enable detailed observation of the context, process, outcomes relationships that exist when attempting to translate research evidence into practice. The facilitation intervention is then rigorously tested in a randomised controlled trial (WP 3) to see whether the technical and enabling facilitation methods affect both processes and outcomes of implementing evidence based guidance on continence promotion. A cost evaluation will also be undertaken. Together, these data will provide evidence about the effectiveness of facilitation in getting research evidence into practice, and additional knowledge determining whether the resources needed to implement more intensive enabling facilitation compared to a technical facilitation approach are worth the investment, both in terms of costs and outcomes achieved. Work package 4 provides an ongoing opportunity throughout the study period for stakeholder involvement in the research and dissemination of the findings across Europe and internationally. The final work package (5) provides a model of project and consortium management to ensure that the work packages inter-relate seamlessly and all aspects of the study are delivered to the highest quality. The overall strategy of the work plan is to plan and deliver a study which has the potential to make a real difference to the use of evidence in practice, promoting improved, evidence-based care for people with health care needs.