Rationale for Dissemination Plan in a Research Project
The infinity of healthcare resources makes it imperative to ensure delivery of high-quality care. One way of achieving this is through successful adoption and implementation of cost-effective and evidence-based health technologies (National Institute for Health Research, 2009). There is increasing recognition, however, that maximum potential for use of research evidence in improving clinical and managerial practice and decision making is yet to be achieved (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010). This gap in translation of evidence into practice has been partially blamed on poor dissemination of research evidence to relevant stakeholders (Carpenter, Nieva, Albaghal, & Sorra, 2005). This paper will discuss the rationale of the dissemination plan of a research project.
Dissemination can be defined as a planned process that entails contemplation of issues such as the target audiences as well as the settings in which the findings of research projects are to be received (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010). It further involves communicating and interacting with health service and wider policy audiences in ways that facilitate the uptake of research in practice and decision-making processes as appropriate (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010). In this regard, one of the rationales for having a dissemination plan in a research project is to explain how the research findings are to be shared with various stakeholders and organizations. It also delineates the message, audience, purpose, method, and timing of the dissemination (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010). In so doing, it helps the researcher to determine beforehand the what, who, why, how, and when of dissemination process. It also helps researchers get stakeholder buy in their work (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010). Additionally, it ensures that the researcher allocates adequate funds for this often missed process. Lastly, identification of a dissemination plan beforehand fosters early planning for evaluation of the success of the dissemination plan (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Nazareth, 2010).
In summary, this paper has reviewed the rationale of the dissemination plan of a research project. It has established that a dissemination plan is useful in determining the what, who, why, how, and when of the dissemination process. It also helps the researcher get stakeholder buy in, source for funds, and plan for the evaluation step of the process.
References
Carpenter, D., Nieva, V., Albaghal, T., & Sorra, J. (2005). Development of a planning tool to guide research dissemination. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20603/
National Institute for Health Research (2009). Delivering Health Research: National Institute for Health Research Progress Report 2008/09. London: Department of Health.
Wilson, P. M., Petticrew, M., Calnan, M. W., & Nazareth, I. (2010). Disseminating research findings: what should researchers do? A systematic review of conceptual frameworks. Implementation Science, 5, 91.
