15–24.99
years) ( = 15)
Age mean (SD) = 49.7 (18.6).
Focus group and researcher interview data were recorded (either via audio recording and/or notes taken by research staff) and analyzed via a general inductive qualitative approach, a method appropriate for program evaluation studies and aimed at condensing large amounts of textual data into frameworks that describe the underlying process and experiences under study [ 12 ]. Data were analyzed by our team’s qualitative expert who read the textual data multiple times, developed a coding scheme to identify themes in the textual data, and used group consensus methods with other team members to identify unique, key themes.
Sixty-one of sixty-five PSP who volunteered to participate in the PSP survey were screened eligible, fifty were consented, and forty-eight completed the survey questionnaire. Of the 48 PSP completing the survey, 15 (32%) were AYA and 33 (68%) older adults. The mean age of survey respondents was 49.7 years, 23.5 for AYA, and 61.6 for older adults. Survey respondents were predominantly White, non-Hispanic/Latino, female, and with some college or a college degree (Table (Table1). 1 ). The percentage of participants in each group never or rarely needing any help with reading/interpreting written materials was above 93% in both groups.
Over 90% of PSP responded that they would participate in another research study, and more than 75% of PSP indicated that study participants should know about study results. Most (68.8%) respondents indicated that they did not receive any communications from study staff after they finished a study .
PSP preferences for communication channel are summarized in Table Table2 2 and based on responses to the question “How do you want to receive information?.” Both AYA and older adults agree or completely agree that they prefer email to other communication channels and that billboards did not apply to them. Older adult preferences for communication channels as indicated by agreeing or completely agreeing were in ranked order of highest to lowest: use of mailed letters/postcards, newsletter, and phone. A majority (over 50%) of older adults completely disagreed or disagreed on texting and social media as options and had only slight preference for mass media, public forum, and wellness fairs or expos.
Communication preference by group: AYA * , older adult ** , and ALL ( n = 48)
Communication format | Completely disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Completely agree | Don’t know | Not applicable |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phone | |||||||
AYA | 4 (26.7) | 3 (20) | 6 (40.0) | 1 (6.7) | 1 (6.7) | - | - |
Older adult | 10 (30.3) | 1 (3) | 6 (18.2) | 2 (6.1) | 14 (42.4) | - | - |
ALL | 14 (29.2) | 4 (8.3) | 12 (25.0) | 3 (9.1) | 15 (31.3) | - | - |
Mailed letters, postcards | |||||||
AYA | 5 (33.3) | 4 (26.7) | 2 (13.3) | 2 (13.3) | 2 (13.3) | - | - |
Older adult | 3 (9.1) | 2 (6.1) | 5 (15.2) | 7 (21.2) | 16 (48.5) | - | - |
ALL | 8 (16.7) | 6 (12.5) | 7 (14.6) | 9 (18.8) | 18 (37.5) | - | - |
AYA | - | - | - | 3 (20) | 12 (80) | - | - |
Older adult | 5 (15.2) | 1 (3.0) | 2 (6.1) | 2 (6.1) | 21 (63.6) | - | - |
ALL | 5 (10.4) | 1 (2.1) | 2 (4.2) | 5 (10.4) | 33 (68.8) | - | - |
Texting | |||||||
AYA | 5 (33.3) | 2 (13.3) | 2 (13.3) | 4 (26.7) | 2 (13.3) | - | - |
Older adult | 17 (51.5) | 1 (3.0) | 4 (12.1) | 3 (9.1) | 4 (12.1) | - | - |
ALL | 22 (45.8) | 3 (6.3) | 6 (12.5) | 7 (14.6) | 6 (12.5) | - | - |
Newsletter | |||||||
AYA | 5 (33.3) | 3 (20.0) | 4 (26.7) | 1 (6.7) | 2 (13.3) | - | - |
Older adult | 4 (12.1) | 2 (6.1) | 8 (24.2) | 6 (18.2) | 13 (39.4) | - | - |
ALL | 9 (18.8) | 5 (10.4) | 12(25) | 7 (14.6) | 15 (31.3) | - | - |
Social media | |||||||
AYA | 5 (33.3) | 5 (33.3) | 4 (26.7) | - | 1 (6.7) | - | - |
Older adult | 20 (60.6) | - | 4 (12.1) | 1 (3.0) | 6 (21.2) | - | - |
ALL | 25 (52.1) | 5 (10.4) | 8 (16.7) | 1 (2.1) | 7 (14.6) | - | - |
Mass media | |||||||
AYA | 3 (20.0) | 6 (40.0) | 6 (40.0) | - | - | - | |
Older adult | 14 (42.4) | 2 (6.1) | 7 (21.2) | 4 (12.1) | 6 (18.2) | - | |
ALL | 17 (35.4) | 8 (16.7) | 13 (27.1) | 4 (8.3) | 6 (12.5) | - | |
Public forum | |||||||
AYA | 5 (33.3) | 2 (13.3) | 6 (40.0) | 1 (6.7) | 1 (6.7) | ||
Older adult | 12 (36.4) | 4 (12.1) | 5 (15.2) | 6 (18.2) | 6 (18.2) | ||
ALL | 17 (35.4) | 6 (12.5) | 11 (22.9) | 7 (14.6) | 7 (14.6) | ||
Wellness fair/expo | |||||||
AYA | 4 (26.7) | 1 (6.7) | 5 (33.3) | 5 (33.3) | - | - | - |
Older adult | 12 (36.4) | 3 (9.1) | 9 (27.3) | 2 (6.1) | 7 (21.2) | ||
ALL | 16 (33.3) | 4 (8.3) | 14 (29.4) | 7 (14.6) | 7 (14.6) | - | - |
Other (billboard) | |||||||
AYA | - | - | - | - | 1 (1.67) | 3 (20.0) | 11 (73.3) |
Older adult | 2 (6.1) | - | 1(3.0) | - | 1 (3.0) | 8 (3) | - |
ALL | 2 (14.2) | - | - | 1 (2.1) | 1 (2.1) | 4 (8.3) | 39 (81.3) |
ALL, total per column.
While AYA preferred email over all other options, they completely disagreed/disagreed with mailed letters/postcards, social media, and mass media options.
When communication formats were ranked overall by each group and by both groups combined, the ranking from most to least preferred was written materials, opportunities to interact with study teams and ask questions, visual charts, graphs, pictures, and videos, audios, and podcasts.
PSP want to receive and share information on study findings for studies in which he/she participated. Furthermore, participants stated their desire to share study results across social networks and highlighted opportunities to share communicated study results with their health-care providers, family members, friends, and other acquaintances with similar medical conditions.
Because of the things I was in a study for, it’s a condition I knew three other people who had the same condition, so as soon as it worked for me, I put the word out, this is great stuff. I would forward the email with the link, this is where you can go to also get in on this study, or I’d also tell them, you know, for me, like the medication. Here’s the medication. Here’s the name of it. Tell your doctor. I would definitely share. I’d just tell everyone without a doubt. Right when I get home, as soon as I walk in the door, and say Renee-that’s my daughter-I’ve got to tell you this.
Communication of study information could happen through several channels including social media, verbal communication, sharing of written documents, and forwarding emails containing a range of content in a range of formats (e.g., reports and pamphlets).
Word of mouth and I have no shame in saying I had head to toe psoriasis, and I used the drug being studied, and so I would just go to people, hey, look. So, if you had it in paper form, like a pamphlet or something, yeah I’d pass it on to them.
PSP prefer clear, simple messaging and highlighted multiple, preferred communication modalities for receiving information on study findings including emails, letters, newsletters, social media, and websites.
The wording is really simple, which I like. It’s to the point and clear. I really like the bullet points, because it’s quick and to the point. I think the [long] paragraphs-you get lost, especially when you are reading on your phone.
They indicated a clear preference for colorful, simple, easy to read communication. PSP also expressed some concern about difficulty opening emails with pictures and dislike lengthy written text. “I don’t read long emails. I tend to delete them”
PSP indicated some confusion about common research language. For example, one participant indicated that using the word “estimate” indicates the research findings were an approximation, “When I hear those words, I just think you’re guessing, estimate, you know? It sounds like an estimate, not a definite answer.”
Twenty-three of thirty-two researchers volunteered to participate in the researcher survey, were screened eligible, and two declined to participate, resulting in 19 who provided consent to participate and completed the survey. The mean age of survey respondents was 51.8 years. Respondents were predominantly White, non-Hispanic/Latino, and female, and all were holders of either a professional school degree or a doctoral degree. When asked if it is important to inform study participants of study results, 94.8% of responding researchers agreed that it was extremely important or important. Most researchers have disseminated findings to study participants or plan to disseminate findings.
Researchers listed a variety of reasons for their rating of the importance of informing study participants of study results including “to promote feelings of inclusion by participants and other community members”, “maintaining participant interest and engagement in the subject study and in research generally”, “allowing participants to benefit somewhat from their participation in research and especially if personal health data are collected”, “increasing transparency and opportunities for learning”, and “helping in understanding the impact of the research on the health issue under study”.
Some researchers view sharing study findings as an “ethical responsibility and/or a tenet of volunteerism for a research study”. For example, “if we (researchers) are obligated to inform participants about anything that comes up during the conduct of the study, we should feel compelled to equally give the results at the end of the study”.
One researcher “thought it a good idea to ask participants if they would like an overview of findings at the end of the study that they could share with others who would like to see the information”.
Two researchers said that sharing research results “depends on the study” and that providing “general findings to the participants” might be “sufficient for a treatment outcome study”.
Researchers indicated that despite their willingness to share study results, they face resource challenges such as a lack of funding and/or staff to support communication and dissemination activities and need assistance in developing these materials. One researcher remarked “I would really like to learn what are (sic) the best ways to share research findings. I am truly ignorant about this other than what I have casually observed. I would enjoy attending a workshop on the topic with suggested templates and communication strategies that work best” and that this survey “reminds me how important this is and it is promising that our CTSA seems to plan to take this on and help researchers with this important study element.”
Another researcher commented on a list of potential types of assistance that could be made available to assist with communicating and disseminating results, that “Training on developing lay friendly messaging is especially critically important and would translate across so many different aspects of what we do, not just dissemination of findings. But I’ve noticed that it is a skill that very few people have, and some people never can seem to develop. For that reason, I find as a principal investigator that I am spending a lot of my time working on these types of materials when I’d really prefer research assistant level folks having the ability to get me 99% of the way there.”
Most researchers indicated that they provide participants with personal tests or assessments taken from the study (60% n = 6) and final study results (72.7%, n = 8) but no other information such as recruitment and retention updates, interim updates or results, information on the impact of the study on either the health topic of the study or the community, information on other studies or provide tips and resources related to the health topic and self-help. Sixty percent ( n = 6) of researcher respondents indicated sharing planned next steps for the study team and information on how the study results would be used.
When asked about how they communicated results, phone calls were mentioned most frequently followed by newsletters, email, webpages, public forums, journal article, mailed letter or postcard, mass media, wellness fairs/expos, texting, or social media.
Researchers used a variety of communication formats to communicate with study participants. Written descriptions of study findings were most frequently reported followed by visual depictions, opportunities to interact with study staff and ask questions or provide feedback, and videos/audio/podcasts.
Seventy-three percent of researchers reported that they made efforts to make study findings information available to those with low levels of literacy, health literacy, or other possible limitations such as non-English-speaking populations.
In open-ended responses, most researchers reported wanting to increase their awareness and use of on-campus training and other resources to support communication and dissemination of study results, including how to get resources and budgets to support their use.
One-on-one interviews with researchers identified two themes.
Some researchers indicated hesitancy in communicating preliminary findings, findings from small studies, or highly summarized information. In addition, in comparison to research participants, researchers seemed to place a higher value on specific details of the study.
“I probably wouldn’t put it up [on social media] until the actual manuscript was out with the graphs and the figures, because I think that’s what people ultimately would be interested in.”
Researchers expressed interest in communicating research results to study participants. However, they highlighted several challenges including difficulties in tracking current email and physical addresses for participants; compliance with literacy and visual impairment regulations; and the number of products already required in research that consume a considerable amount of a research team’s time. Researchers expressed a desire to have additional resources and templates to facilitate sharing study findings. According to one respondent, “For every grant there is (sic) 4-10 papers and 3-5 presentations, already doing 10-20 products.” Researchers do not want to “reinvent the wheel” and would like to pull from existing papers and presentations on how to share with participants and have boilerplate, writing templates, and other logistical information available for their use.
Researchers would also like training in the form of lunch-n-learns, podcasts, or easily accessible online tools on how to develop materials and approaches. Researchers are interested in understanding the “do’s and don’ts” of communicating and disseminating study findings and any regulatory requirements that should be considered when communicating with research participants following a completed study. For example, one researcher asked, “From beginning to end – the do’s and don’ts – are stamps allowed as a direct cost? or can indirect costs include paper for printing newsletters, how about designing a website, a checklist for pulling together a newsletter?”
The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the current experiences, expectations, concerns, preferences, and capacities of PSP including youth/young adult and older adult populations and researchers for sharing, receiving, and using information on research study findings. PSP and researchers agreed, as shown in earlier work [ 3 , 5 ], that sharing information upon study completion with participants was something that should be done and that had value for both PSP and researchers. As in prior studies [ 3 , 5 ], both groups also agreed that sharing study findings could improve ancillary outcomes such as participant recruitment and enrollment, use of research findings to improve health and health-care delivery, and build overall community support for research. In addition, communicating results acknowledges study participants’ contributions to research, a principle firmly rooted in respect for treating participants as not merely a means to further scientific investigation [ 5 ].
The majority of PSP indicated that they did not receive research findings from studies they participated in, that they would like to receive such information, and that they preferred specific communication methods for receipt of this information such as email and phone calls. While our sample was small, we did identify preferences for communication channels and for message format. Some differences and similarities in preferences for communication channels and message format were identified between AYA and older adults, thus reinforcing the best practice of customizing communication channel and messaging to each specific group. However, the preference for email and the similar rank ordering of messaging formats suggest that there are some overall communication preferences that may apply to most populations of PSP. It remains unclear whether participants prefer individual or aggregate results of study findings and depends on the type of study, for example, individual results of genotypes versus aggregate results of epidemiological studies [ 13 ]. A study by Miller et al suggests that the impact of receiving aggregate results, whether clinically relevant or not, may equal that of receiving individual results [ 14 ]. Further investigation warrants evaluation of whether, when, and how researchers should communicate types of results to study participants, considering multiple demographics of the populations such as age and ethnicity on preferences.
While researchers acknowledged that PSP would like to hear from them regarding research results and that they wanted to meet this expectation, they indicated needing specific training and/or time and resources to provide this information to PSP in a way that meets PSP needs and preferences. Costs associated with producing reports of findings were a concern of researchers in our study, similar to findings from a study conducted by Di Blasi and colleagues in which 15% (8 of 53 investigators) indicated that they wanted to avoid extra costs associated with the conduct of their studies and extra administrative work [ 15 ]. In this same study, the major reason for not informing participants about study results was that forty percent of investigators never considered this option. Researchers were unaware of resources available on existing platforms at their home institution or elsewhere to help them with communication and dissemination efforts [ 10 ].
Information from academic and other organizations on how to best communicate research findings in plain language is available and could be shared with researchers and their teams. The Cochrane Collaborative [ 16 ], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [ 17 ], and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute [ 18 ] have resources to help researchers develop plain language summaries using proven approaches to overcome literacy and other issues that limit participant access to study findings. Some academic institutions have electronic systems in place to confidentially share templated laboratory and other personal study information with participants and, if appropriate, with their health-care providers.
Findings from the study are limited by several study and respondent characteristics. The sample was drawn from research records at one university engaging in research in a relatively defined geographic area and among two special populations: AYA and older adults. As such, participants were not representative of either the general population in the area, the population of PSP or researchers available in the area, or the racial and ethnic diversity of potential and/or actual participants in the geographic area. The small number of researcher participants did not represent the pool of researchers at the university, and the research studies from which participants were drawn were not representative of the broad range of clinical and translational research undertaken by our institution or within the geographic community it serves. The number of survey and focus group participants was insufficient to allow robust analysis of findings specific to participants’ race, ethnicity, gender, or membership in the target age groups of AYA or older adult. However, these data will inform a future trial with adequate representations from underrepresented and special population groups.
Since all PSP had participated in research, they may have been biased in favor of wanting to know more about study results and/or supportive/nonsupportive of the method of communication/dissemination they were exposed to through their participation in these studies.
Our findings provide information from PSP and researchers on their expectations about sharing study findings, preferences for how to communicate and disseminate study findings, and need for greater assistance in removing roadblocks to using proven communication and dissemination approaches. This information illustrates the potential to engage both PSP and researchers in the design and use of communication and dissemination strategies and materials to share research findings, engage in efforts to more broadly disseminate research findings, and inform our understanding of how to interpret and communicate research findings for members of special population groups. While several initial prototypes were developed in response to this feedback and shared for review by participants in this study, future research will focus on finalizing and testing specific communication and dissemination prototypes aimed at these special population groups.
Findings from our study support a major goal of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science Recruitment Innovation Center to engage and collaborate with patients and their communities to advance translation science. In response to the increased awareness of the importance of sharing results with study participants or the general public, a template for dissemination of research results is available in the Recruitment and Retention Toolbox through the CTSA Trial Innovation Network (TIN: trialinnovationnetwork.org ). We believe that our findings will inform resources for use in special populations through collaborations within the TIN.
This pilot project was supported, in part, by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the NIH under Grant Number UL1 TR001450. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
This study was reviewed, approved, and continuously overseen by the IRB at the Medical University of South Carolina (ID: Pro00067659). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Implementation Science volume 15 , Article number: 89 ( 2020 ) Cite this article
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Research has the potential to influence US social policy; however, existing research in this area lacks a coherent message. The Model for Dissemination of Research provides a framework through which to synthesize lessons learned from research to date on the process of translating research to US policymakers.
The peer-reviewed and grey literature was systematically reviewed to understand common strategies for disseminating social policy research to policymakers in the United States. We searched Academic Search Premier, PolicyFile, SocINDEX, Social Work Abstracts, and Web of Science from January 1980 through December 2019. Articles were independently reviewed and thematically analyzed by two investigators and organized using the Model for Dissemination of Research.
The search resulted in 5225 titles and abstracts for inclusion consideration. 303 full-text articles were reviewed with 27 meeting inclusion criteria. Common sources of research dissemination included government, academic researchers, the peer reviewed literature, and independent organizations. The most frequently disseminated research topics were health-related, and legislators and executive branch administrators were the most common target audience. Print materials and personal communication were the most common channels for disseminating research to policymakers. There was variation in dissemination channels by level of government (e.g., a more formal legislative process at the federal level compared with other levesl). Findings from this work suggest that dissemination is most effective when it starts early, galvanizes support, uses champions and brokers, considers contextual factors, is timely, relevant, and accessible, and knows the players and process.
Effective dissemination of research to US policymakers exists; yet, rigorous quantitative evaluation is rare. A number of cross-cutting strategies appear to enhance the translation of research evidence into policy.
Not registered.
Peer Review reports
This is one of the first systematic reviews to synthesize how social policy research evidence is disseminated to US policymakers.
Print materials and personal communications were the most commonly used channels to disseminate social policy research to policymakers.
Several cross-cutting strategies (e.g., start early, use evidence “champions,” make research products more timely, relevant, and accessible) were identified that are likely to lead to more effective translate of research evidence into the policy making process in the United States.
In recent years, social scientists have sought to understand how research may influence policy [ 1 , 2 ]. Interest in this area of investigation has grown with the increased availability of funding for policy-specific research (e.g., dissemination and implementation research) [ 3 ]. However, because of variation in the content of public policy, this emerging area of scholarship lacks a coherent message that specifically addresses social policy in the United States (US). While other studies have examined the use of evidence in policymaking globally [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ], the current review focuses on US social policy; for the purposes of this study, social policy includes policies which focus on antipoverty, economic security, health, education, and social services [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].
Significant international research exists on barriers and facilitators to the dissemination and use of research evidence by policymakers [ 4 , 5 ]. Common themes include the importance of personal relationships, the timeliness of evidence, and resource availability [ 4 , 5 ]. Previous work demonstrates the importance of understanding policymakers’ perceptions and how evidence is disseminated. The current review builds on this existing knowledge to examine how research evidence reaches policymakers and to understand what strategies are likely to be effective in overcoming identified barriers.
Theoretical frameworks offer a necessary foundation to identify and assess strategies for disseminating research to policymakers. The Model for Dissemination of Research integrates Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Social Marketing Theory with the Mathematical Theory of Communication [ 11 , 12 ] and the Matrix of Persuasive Communication [ 13 , 14 ] to address the translation gap between research and policy. The purpose of the Model for Dissemination of Research is to highlight the gaps between research and targets audiences (e.g., policymakers) and improve dissemination through the use of a theoretical foundation and review of the literature [ 15 ]. Diffusion of Innovations Theory describes the spread and adoption of novel interventions through an “s-curve,” ordered process, and characteristics of the message and audience [ 16 ]. Additional theoretical contributions for dissemination research come from Social Marketing Theory, which postulates commercial marketing strategies summarized by the four P’s (produce, price, place, and promotion) and the understanding that communication of the message alone will not change behavior [ 17 ].
The Model for Dissemination of Research includes the four key components described by Shannon and Weaver [ 11 , 12 ] and later McGuire [ 13 , 14 ] of the research translation process: the source, message, audience, and channel (Fig. 1 ). The source includes researchers who generate evidence. The message includes relevant information sent by the source on a policy topic. The audience includes those receiving the message via the channel [ 15 ]. The channel is how the message gets from the source to the audience [ 15 ].
The Model for Dissemination of Research. The Model for Dissemination of Research integrates Diffusion of Innovations Theory, the Mathematical Theory of Communication, and Social Marketing Theory to develop a framework for conceptualizing how information moves from source to audience. Originally published by Brownson et al. in Journal of public health management and practice in 2018
While the Model for Dissemination of Research and its origins (i.e., the Mathematical Theory of Communication and Diffusion of Innovations Theory) appear linear in their presentation, Shannon and Weaver [ 11 , 12 ] and Rogers [ 16 ] clearly acknowledge that the dissemination of information is not a linear process and is effected by the environment within which it occurs. This approach aligns with the system model or knowledge to action approach proposed by Best and Holmes [ 18 ]. The systems model accounts for influence of the environment on a process and accounts for the complexity of the system [ 18 ]. Therefore, while some theoretical depictions appear linear in their presentation; it is important to acknowledge the critical role of systems thinking.
To date, lessons learned from dissemination and implementation science about the ways in which research influences policy are scattered across diverse disciplines and bodies of literature. These disparate lessons highlight the critical need to integrate knowledge across disciplines. The current study aims to make sense of and distill these lessons by conducting a systematic review of scientific literature on the role of research in shaping social policy in the United States. The results of this systematic review are synthesized in a preliminary conceptual model (organized around the Model for Dissemination of Research) with the goal of improving dissemination strategies for the translation of scientific research to policymakers and guiding future research in this area.
This systematic review aims to synthesize existing evidence about how research has been used to influence social policy and is guided by the following research questions:
What are common strategies for using research to influence social policy in the United States?
What is the effectiveness of these strategies?
We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-P) model [ 19 , 20 ] to examine and distill existing studies on strategies for using research evidence to influence social policy.
Studies were eligible for this review if they met the following inclusion criteria: (1) occurred in the United States; (2) reported in English; (3) systematically evaluated the impact of research on social policy (this typically excluded studies focusing on policymaker dissemination preferences); (4) discussed domestic social policy (as defined above); and (5) were published in the peer reviewed literature or the grey literature (e.g., think tank research briefs, foundation research publications).
We chose to focus our review on the United States to capture the strengths and challenges of its unique, multi-level policy and political environment. The de-centralized structure of government in the United States allows significant decision-making authority at the state and local levels, with wide variation in capacity and the availability of resources across the country [ 21 ]. For example, some states have full-time legislatures while other states have part-time legislatures. In total, these factors create a fitting and complex environment to examine the dissemination of research to policymakers. The influence of lobbying in the United States also differs from other western countries. In the United States, there is more likely to be a “winner-take-all” process where some advocates (often corporations and trade associations) have disproportionate influence [ 22 ]. In addition, the role of evidence differs in the US compared with other countries, where the US tends to take a narrower focus on intervention impact with less emphasis on system-level issues (e.g., implementation, cost) [ 23 ].
Studies were excluded if they were not in English or occurred outside of the United States. We also excluded non-research sources, such as editorials, opinion pieces, and narrative stories that contain descriptions of dissemination strategies without systematic evaluation. Further, studies were excluded if the results focused on practitioners (e.g., case managers, local health department workers) and/or if results for practitioners could not be parsed from results for policymakers.
To identify studies that systematically evaluated the impact of research on social policy, we reviewed the research questions and results of each study to determine whether or not they examined how research evidence reaches policymakers (as opposed to policymaker preferences for disseminated research). For example, we would not include a research study that only describes different types of policy briefs, without also evaluating how the briefs are used by policymakers to inform policy decisions. We used the Model for Dissemination of Research, as defined above, to see if and how the studies describe and test the channels of dissemination. We built on the Model of Dissemination by also considering passive forms of knowledge, such as peer-reviewed literature or research briefs, as potential sources of knowledge and not just as channels in and of themselves.
We took a three-pronged approach to develop a comprehensive understanding of existing knowledge in this area. First, we searched the peer reviewed literature using the following databases: Academic Search Premier, PolicyFile, SocINDEX, Social Work Abstracts, and Web of Science. We expanded the inquiry for evidence by searching the grey literature through PolicyFile, and included recommendations from experts in the field of dissemination of research evidence to policymakers resulting in 137 recommended publications.
Our search strategy included the following terms: [research OR study OR studies OR knowledge] AND [policy OR policies OR law OR laws OR legislation] AND [use OR utilization OR utilisation] OR [disseminate OR dissemination OR disseminating] OR [implementation OR implementing OR implement] OR [translate OR translation OR translating]. Our search was limited to studies in the United States between 1980 and 2019. We selected this timeframe based on historical context: the 1950s through the 1970s saw the development of the modern welfare state, which was (relatively) complete by 1980. However, shifting political agendas in the 1980s saw the demand for evidence increase to provide support for social programs [ 24 ]; we hoped to capture this increase in evidence use in policy.
All titles and abstracts were screened by the principal investigator (LEA) with 20% reviewed at random by a co-investigator (DAQ) with total agreement post-training. Studies remaining after abstract screening moved to full text review. The full text of each study was considered for inclusion (LEA and DAQ) with conflicts resolved by consensus. The data abstraction form was developed by the principal investigator (LEA) based on previous research [ 25 , 26 ] and with feedback from co-authors. Data were independently abstracted from each reference in duplicate with conflicts resolved by consensus (LEA and DAQ). We completed reliability checks on 20% of the final studies, selected at random, to ensure accurate data abstraction.
Abstracted data was qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis (LEA and DAQ) and guided by the Model for Dissemination of Research. The goal of the preliminary conceptual model was to synthesize components of dissemination for studies that evaluate the dissemination of social policy to policymakers.
The search of the literature resulted in 5675 articles and 137 articles recommended by content experts for review with 5225 titles and abstracts screened after duplicates removed. Of those articles, 4922 were excluded due to not meeting inclusion criteria. Further, 303 full text articles were reviewed with 276 excluded as they did not meet inclusion criteria. Twenty-seven articles met inclusion criteria (see the Fig. 2 for the PRISMA flow diagram).
PRISMA flowchart. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram reports included and excluded articles in the systematic review
Included studies are listed in Table 1 . The 27 included 6 studies using quantitative methods, 18 that employed qualitative methods, and 3 that used a mixed methods approach. The qualitative studies mostly employed interviews ( n = 10), while others used case studies ( n = 6) or focus groups ( n = 3). Most studies examined state-level policy ( n = 18) and nine studies examined federal-level policy, with some studies looking at multiple levels of government. Included studies focused on the executive and legislative branches with no studies examining the judicial branch.
We examined dissemination based on geographic regions and/or political boundaries (i.e., regions or states). Sixteen of the 27 studies (about 59%) used national samples or multiple states and did not provide geographic-specific results [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Two studies (about 7%) did not specific the geographic region or state in which the study took place [ 43 , 44 ]. Of the remaining studies, four examined policymaking in the Northeastern United States [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ], four in the Western US [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], and one in the South [ 53 ]. The geographic regional groups used similar channels to disseminate evidence to policymakers including publications and presentations.
We also analyzed whether dissemination at different levels of government (i.e., local, state, and federal) used unique channels. Six of included studies (about 22%) examined multiple levels of government and did not separate results based on specific levels of government [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 53 ]. One study did not specifically identify the level of government used [ 46 ]. While there is considerable overlap in dissemination channels used at each level of government, there are some unique characteristics.
Five studies (about 18.5%) examined dissemination at the federal level [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. At the federal level, dissemination channels tended to be more formal such as congressional committee hearings [ 36 ] and legislative development [ 35 ]. Twelve studies (about 44%) evaluated dissemination at the state level [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. State level dissemination heavily relied on printed materials including from mental health care disparity report cards [ 41 ], policy briefs [ 38 ], and effectiveness reports [ 50 ]. Another common channel was in-person communications such as one-on-one meetings [ 44 ] and presentations to stakeholders [ 51 ]. Three studies (about 11%) focused on local-level government. Dissemination channels at the local level had little consistency across the three studies with channels including public education [ 45 ], reports [ 37 ], and print materials [ 49 ].
Roughly half of studies were atheoretical ( n = 13). Four studies used the Weiss Typology [ 29 , 36 , 54 , 55 ], two studies used the operationalization framework [ 45 , 53 ], and two studies used the advocacy coalition framework [ 53 , 56 ].
We used the Model for Dissemination of Research to summarize the findings from the included studies into the themes of source, message, audience, and channel (i.e., strategies). We integrated themes from the studies into the Model (see Fig. 3 ).
A conceptual model for dissemination of research to policymakers. The populated conceptual model builds on the Model for Dissemination of Research by organizing findings from the current systematic review to build an understanding of how research is disseminated to policymakers in the United States
The sources of knowledge varied across studies with some studies including multiple sources of social policy information. The most common sources of knowledge included research, as in peer-reviewed literature ( n = 7) [ 30 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 43 , 49 , 54 ], researchers ( n = 5) [ 27 , 31 , 32 , 34 , 56 ], and research broadly defined ( n = 5) [ 36 , 39 , 47 , 48 , 55 ], the government ( n = 11) [ 29 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 47 , 50 , 54 , 56 , 57 ], and organizations ( n = 7) [ 33 , 36 , 46 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 56 ].
The majority of studies focused on health topics ( n = 12) [ 29 , 30 , 33 , 34 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 47 , 55 , 56 , 58 ] and child and family well-being ( n = 6) [ 27 , 36 , 46 , 49 , 52 , 57 ]. The remaining studies covered the topics of education ( n = 4) [ 39 , 43 , 53 , 54 ], guns [ 56 ], veterans [ 44 ], and general social research ( n = 3) [ 31 , 32 , 48 ]. Multiple studies offered specific recommendations for message framing, suggesting that the packaging of information is as critical as the information itself [ 27 ]. One study piloted multiple styles of policy briefs and found staffers preferred to use and share narrative or story-based briefs while legislators were more likely to use and share statistical, data-based briefs [ 38 ]. This finding was mirrored in two studies that found testimonial or descriptive evidence to be as effective as data-driven research [ 34 , 52 ], particularly in the context of sympathetic populations [ 52 ]. Three studies highlighted the reliance of effective message delivery on the message’s ability to capture audience interest (e.g., what the research means to the policymaker, specifically and if possible, personally) [ 27 , 34 , 41 ]. Finally, two studies emphasized creating a sense of urgency or even shock-value within the message in order to capture policymakers’ interest [ 36 , 57 ].
The audience included executive branch policymakers [ 49 ], administrators ( n = 9) [ 27 , 31 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 53 , 55 , 57 ], and staff [ 42 ]. Studies which focused on the legislative branch examined legislators ( n = 12) [ 27 , 32 , 36 , 38 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 58 ] and staff ( n = 3) [ 32 , 34 , 36 ]. Three studies examined broadly defined policymakers [ 33 , 54 , 56 ] and generalized staff [ 54 ] without indication for specific branch of government.
Included studies examined a variety of channels with many including multiple channels. Print materials was the most commonly used channel, including reports ( n = 10) [ 27 , 30 , 33 , 41 , 46 , 50 , 53 , 55 , 57 , 58 ] and policy briefs ( n = 3) [ 31 , 34 , 38 ]. Researchers examined in-person meetings and communications as a channel to disseminate research ( n = 9) [ 30 , 32 , 33 , 39 , 44 , 48 , 53 , 56 , 57 ]. Research and research summaries were also studied ( n = 7) [ 30 , 31 , 42 , 47 , 49 , 52 , 54 ]. Both traditional ( n = 6) [ 31 , 33 , 47 , 52 , 53 , 54 ] and social media ( n = 2) [ 47 , 53 ] were examined as channels to disseminate research to policymakers. Other channels include conferences and presentations ( n = 4) [ 33 , 34 , 49 , 57 ], electronic communication ( n = 2) [ 27 , 57 ], online resources ( n = 3) [ 34 , 49 , 58 ], and personal testimony ( n =2) [ 42 , 52 ].
The majority of studies employed qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, case studies, focus groups) to evaluate the impact of scientific research on domestic social policy. Our review of the literature also identified nine quantitative and mixed-methods studies [ 31 , 32 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 49 , 58 ]. We identified a series of cross-cutting dissemination strategies for engaging policymakers including recommendations for and barriers to research-to-policy (see Table 2 ).
Four studies highlighted the importance for early and ongoing engagement with policymakers throughout the research process in order to maximize interest and applicability. Researchers are encouraged to take the initiative to contact policymakers as early as possible in the research process. Many policymakers may be interested in accessing and using research but uncertain who or how to make connections in the academic or research community [ 27 ]. Involving policymakers when designing projects and framing initial research questions increases the likelihood that key policy stakeholders will remain invested in the work by allowing their individual research interests to shine [ 34 , 41 ]. Early engagement also ensures that research products (e.g., reports, policy briefs, factsheets) will have strategic usefulness for policymakers [ 30 ].
In addition to early policymaker engagement, three studies highlighted the need for researchers to garner outside support for their work, ideally involving a broad pool of experts and cultivating a broader coalition of supporters than typical academic endeavors [ 47 ]. Often, policymakers appear unwilling or uninterested in considering the application of evidence to their work [ 45 , 53 ]; when researchers can demonstrate the value and relevance of their work [ 58 ], policymakers may be more likely to engage.
A common strategy for garnering support (as recommended above) is the use of evidence champions or brokers ; these are intermediary individuals or organizations who connect research suppliers (e.g., individual researchers, academic institutions) to research demand (e.g., policymakers) [ 53 ]. These champions can broker important connections; however, researchers and policymakers alike must remember that these intermediaries are not neutral carriers of information, and may spin research in support of personal agendas [ 45 , 52 , 53 ]. Individual biases may also present a barrier in research-to-policy translation, as individuals or organizations are empowered to select the “best” research evidence to share with policymakers [ 29 ]. One study found that nearly half of state policymakers named professional associations as trusted sources for research information, specifically because the organization is perceived not to have a stake in the final policy outcome [ 58 ].
Two studies specifically addressed the role of intermediary organizations or brokers in the translation of research evidence to policy. Hopkins et al. [ 39 ] explored the exchange of research evidence among state education agency (SEA) leaders, while Massell et al. [ 43 ] examined more broadly the origins of research evidence use in three SEAs. Both studies found that external brokers played a role in connecting SEA policymakers to relevant research, as well as in the conceptualization and development of policy.
Multiple studies stressed the importance of research evidence being contextually relevant to the specific policy audience [ 29 , 54 , 55 , 57 ]. For some policymakers, the needs and interests of local constituents will drive the use of research and the specifics of the policy agenda; for others, discussions that integrate research evidence into the broader sociopolitical context will be more effective [ 45 ]. For state- and local-level policymakers, policies may be most effective when based on the evidence-based understanding of local stakeholders, rather than imposed from the federal level without local contextual details [ 29 ].
Ideology of external advisors and brokers (as discussed above) and policymakers’ own personal beliefs and experiences [ 54 ] and the prevailing political ideology of a particular geographic region [ 55 ] are critical components of context. Ideological beliefs, often deeply held and personal, may create a barrier between researchers and policymakers [ 41 ], though differentiating ideology from other factors that affect individual position-taking is difficult in most situations [ 44 ]. McGinty et al. [ 56 ] suggest that in polarized contexts involving strong ideological beliefs, research may add legitimacy to a particular viewpoint, though as with brokers, that research is likely to be carefully curated to support the desired message. Purtle et al. [ 55 ] concur, reporting that some county health officials were wary of the potential to spin research findings to make a case for certain programs over others and noted the need to avoid the challenge of distorting evidence. Two studies recommend positional neutrality as a researcher’s best approach to handling potential ideological differences, suggesting that presenting research findings as simple fact, rather than making specific recommendations for action, may help avoid conflict and also help researchers gain credibility across the ideological spectrum [ 27 , 50 ].
As with all research endeavors, timeliness and relevance are paramount. However, the typical timeline for academic research (years) is often too long for policymakers whose window for championing a policy action is much shorter (weeks or months) [ 27 , 52 ]. A frequently reported barrier in research-to-policy translation is the complexity of research and concerns about the quality of research evidence [ 29 , 41 , 56 ]; one strategy for combating this concern is the use of clear, careful language [ 27 ], and tailored, audience-specific products that meet the needs of a diverse population of end users [ 27 , 34 , 58 ]. Research that is presented in commonly used, accessible formats (e.g., briefs, factsheets, videos) [ 48 ] may also be more effective, though one study found that use of these formats was dependent on job type, with legislators and staffers preferring different formats [ 58 ].
Multiple studies engaged with policymakers in an effort to determine how they receive research evidence and what strategies or formats are most desirable or effective [ 38 ]. After piloting four different styles of policy briefs (on the same research topic) with state-level policymakers, Brownson et al. [ 38 ] found that while all styles of brief were considered understandable and credible, opinions on the usefulness of the brief varied by the style of the brief and by the level of policymaker (e.g., legislative staff, legislators, and executive branch administrators). These findings suggest that targeted, audience-specific research evidence materials may be more likely to be used by policymakers than generic research evidence. One study explored the usefulness of electronic vs. printed research material and again found differences by type of policymaker—legislators were more likely to read hard copy printed material, while staffers gave higher ratings to online content. Not surprisingly, the age of the policymaker also played a role in the choice to access electronic or printed material, with younger policymakers much more likely to read electronic copy than were their older peers [ 58 ].
A study on state policymakers’ perceptions of comparative effectiveness research (CER) found that the most useful research is that which is consistent and specific to the needs of the policymakers [ 42 ]. The same study identified related barriers to the use of CER in policy decision-making, citing a lack of relevant high quality or conclusive research [ 42 ].
Finally, two studies described pilot projects focused on the delivery of research evidence directly to policymakers. The first cultivated researchers’ capacity to accelerate the translation of research evidence into useable knowledge for policymakers through a rapid response researcher network [ 32 ]. This model was shown to be effective for both researchers (in mobilizing) and policymakers (in eliciting requests for research evidence to bolster a policy conversation or debate) [ 32 ]. The second implementation study reported on a field experiment in which state legislators randomly received relevant research about pending policy proposals [ 44 ]. Findings from this study suggest that having relevant research information increases policymakers’ co-sponsorship of proposals by 60% and highlights the importance of research access in the policy process [ 44 ].
Policymakers are as much experts in their arena as researchers are in their academic fields. In order to build lasting working relationships with a target policymaking audience and maximize the relevance of research products for policy work, researchers must first understand the policy process [ 27 , 30 , 34 ]. One study examined the role of researchers themselves in disseminating findings to policymakers and identified individual- and organizational-level facilitators and barriers to the process [ 31 ]. Researchers’ familiarity with the policy process, the relevance of policy dissemination to individual programs of research, and the expectation of dissemination (from higher institutional or funding bodies) facilitated the research-to-policy exchange, while lack of familiarity with effective dissemination strategies and lack of financial and institutional support for dissemination emerged as primary barriers in the research-to-policy exchange [ 31 ].
Public policy, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, affects all areas of daily life in both obvious and subtle ways. The policy process (i.e., the steps from an idea to policy enactment) does not exist in a vacuum; it is influenced by many factors, including public opinion [ 59 , 60 ], special interest groups [ 61 ], personal narratives [ 62 ], expressed needs of constituents [ 1 ], the media [ 63 , 64 , 65 ], and corporations [ 66 , 67 ]. Research may also play a role in shaping policy and has the potential to add objectivity and evidence to these other forces [ 1 , 2 , 68 ]. The current study synthesizes existing knowledge to understand dissemination strategies of social policy research to policymakers in the United States.
Many channels exist to disseminate evidence to policymakers, with the most common being print materials (i.e., reports and policy briefs). This finding is surprising in our current digital age, as print materials are necessarily time-bound and rapidly evolving technology has created more channels (e.g., social media, videos) which may be preferred by policymakers. This shift creates an opportunity to optimize the content of print materials to disseminate in new mediums; it also offers a chance for authors to improve the accessibility of their work for broader audiences (e.g., via more visual presentation formats) [ 15 , 69 , 70 , 71 ].
Our review found strategies to increase effectiveness of research dissemination to policymakers includes starting early, drumming-up support, using champions and brokers, understanding the context, ensuring timeliness, relevance, and accessibility of research products, and knowing the players and the process. These themes align with existing knowledge about policymaker preferences including face-to-face engagement [ 72 , 73 ], contextual considerations (e.g., timeliness and budget) [ 2 , 72 ], and existing barriers and facilitators to research evidence use [ 4 , 5 ]. Our study adds to what we already know about policymakers’ desire for research evidence and their varying preferences as to the context and form of that knowledge [ 2 , 72 , 74 ] and supports existing efforts to bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers.
Many of the barriers and facilitators to research dissemination that we identified in this review mirror those cited by policymakers as barriers and facilitators to evidence use; this overlap reasonably suggests that efforts to expand research dissemination may improve the other. Particularly relevant lessons from the evidence use literature that also emerged from our review include emphasis on the benefit of building personal relationships between researchers and policymakers [ 5 , 75 , 76 ], narrowing the perceived gap between the two groups [ 77 , 78 ], and changing the culture of decision making to increase appreciation for the value of research in policy development [ 5 , 75 , 76 , 77 ]. Considering the multiple pathways through which research evidence is used in policy, from providing direct evidence of a program’s effectiveness to informing or orienting policy makers about relevant issues [ 23 ], these shared lessons around barriers and facilitators may better inform researchers, policymakers, and staff as to best practices for future communication and collaboration.
Our findings also highlight several unique elements of the US policy landscape, wherein significant power is reserved from the federal-level and afforded to state-level government. In some states, this power is further distributed to county and local governments. This system creates major variation across the country in both policy decisions and in resource availability for social policy implementation. Despite our relatively unique government structure, however, many of the effective strategies for dissemination we identified mirror strategies found in other countries [ 79 , 80 ].
Studies that focused on a specific level of government had some unique characteristics such as formality and reliance on print materials. For example, federal dissemination relied more heavily on formal legislative testimony while state level material relied on written policy materials (e.g., policy briefs, report cards). However, these results are limited by small sample sizes and limited evidence about effectiveness.
A wide range of contextual variables may influence policy dissemination in the US at different levels of government. In the federal legislative context alone, multiple committees and subcommittees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate may exercise some control over programs and policies related to a single social policy issue (e.g., child and family services) [ 81 ]. At the federal level, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides non-partisan research support to legislators in multiple formats including reports on major policy issues, expert testimony, and responses to individual inquiries; the Domestic Social Policy Division offers Congress interdisciplinary research and analysis on social policy issues [ 82 ]. While there may be fewer decision-makers for each issue on the state level, policymaking is further complicated by the extensive rules and reporting requirements attached to state use of federal funding as well as competing priorities or needs at the local level within each state [ 83 , 84 ]. Another dissemination influence may include geographic proximity; for example, geographical proximity may increase the likelihood of university-industry partnerships [ 85 ].
Infrastructure differences may also represent important differences between the US social policy context and that of other developed nations. Each country has a distinct and perhaps unique policy context given available resources, political rules and regulations, and priorities. While models for infrastructure and dissemination interventions may be shared across policy contexts, it may be difficult to directly compare dissemination strategies in one country with dissemination strategies in another country.
Several examples across western countries contribute to a stronger nexus between research evidence and the policy-making process. In the United States, the Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars ( www.wisfamilyimpact.org ) are an example of long-standing initiatives that provide the opportunity for researchers and policymakers to come together to discuss unbiased policy-relevant evidence [ 86 ]. As exemplified by Friese and Bogenschneider [ 27 ], these forums continue to be perceived as objective, relevant, and useful by policymakers and have succeeded at bringing attention to social policy [ 86 ]. Researchers and policymakers in Canada have sought to bridge the research-to-policy gap. For example, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (formerly the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation), funded by the Canadian federal government, brings together researchers and policymakers early and throughout the research development process to discuss, prioritize, and evaluate opportunities for research and dissemination [ 79 ]. In the UK, infrastructure at the national level includes the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme, which funds health research with the explicit goal of informing national policy decisions in health and social care [ 87 ]. These efforts include open calls for research proposals as well as 15 dedicated Policy Research Units located at leading academic institutions around the country. Another resource is the EPPI-Centre at University College London, which provides policymakers support for finding and using research to inform policy decisions through its Research Advisory Service. This allows researchers to work alongside policymakers to reach their goals in addressing educational needs with evidence-informed policy [ 80 ].
The current study has several limitations—these illustrate opportunities for future research. First, we attempted to cast a wide net when searching for studies which examined the influence of research on social policy by including a broad search of the peer-reviewed literature, think tanks, and content experts. However, it is possible we missed some studies which examine how research influences policy. Second, we provide a rationale for focusing on US studies and that our findings may not be generalizable to other countries. Third, we were unable to assess the risk of bias for individual studies as current standards note difficulties in assessing quality and bias in qualitative research [ 88 ]. Fourth, many studies examined multiple channels or strategies for how research influences policy, so the parsing of singular strategies (e.g., policy brief, in-person meeting) as an effective approach should be interpreted with caution. Additional investigation is needed to explore and test causal pathways in how these channels can best influence social policy. Fifth, the majority of studies did not use any theory or framework as a foundation or guide for exploration. This gap may indicate a space to use frameworks such as the Model for Dissemination of Research to guide future research. Finally, the dearth of mixed-methods studies that systematically evaluate the impact of research evidence on domestic social policy (this review identified only 3) presents an opportunity for future work in this field to integrate quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
One significant challenge to increasing the rigor in dissemination research studies is the difficulty in choosing and then measuring an outcome. Many of the studies included in this review are either case studies or descriptive, making it difficult to determine what, if any, impact the given research had on policy. Bogenschneider and Corbett discuss this at length as one of the primary challenges to furthering this research [ 72 ], imploring researchers not to focus solely on the outcome of whether or not a piece or legislation passes but rather to examine whether research influenced one of the proposed policy options [ 72 ]. However, this information can be difficult both to operationalize and to collect. That said, some researchers have already begun to think beyond the passage of legislation, as evidenced by Zelizer [ 44 ] who examined bill co-sponsorship rather than passage. A recent review of health policy implementation measurement found that validated quantitative measures are underutilized and recommends further development and testing of such measures [ 89 ]. Difficulties in identifying robust outcomes and high-quality scales to operationalize them present opportunities for additional exploration in this area.
Dissemination and implementation are often described together; not surprisingly, is overlap in effective strategies for each. The current review identified six dissemination strategies and described their reported effectiveness, while the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) Project identified 73 implementation strategies [ 90 ]. One such similarity is obvious: the dissemination strategy of using champions and brokers mirrors the ERIC implementation strategy of identifying and preparing champions. The difference between the number of implementation strategies and dissemination strategies is striking and highlights the gap in research. Future work should further explore the degree to which dissemination strategies and implementation strategies either overlap or are distinct.
Finally, the dissemination of research to policymakers may raise certain ethical issues. It is imperative for researchers to critically assess when and how to disseminate research findings to policymakers, keeping in mind that promoting a specific policy agenda may result in a perceived or real loss of objectivity [ 91 ]. Syntheses of policy-relevant evidence can be useful, particularly when researchers work in partnership with non-governmental organizations to inform the policy process.
We summarize strategies and illuminate potential barriers to the research-to-policy dissemination process. Key findings are drawn from multiple disciplines and suggest that lessons learned may cut across both research topics and levels of government. The most frequently referenced channel for dissemination to policymakers was print materials, with personal communication (including both in-person and electronic meetings and individual communications) a close second. Corresponding strategies for effective dissemination to policymakers included starting early, drumming-up support, using champions and brokers, understanding the context, ensuring timeliness, relevance, and accessibility of research products, and knowing the players and the process. A shared feature of these strategies is the distillation of complex research findings into accessible pieces of relevant information that can then be delivered via multiple avenues.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a common practice in scientific research [ 92 ]. Our findings provide leads on how to more effectively to engage with policymakers, leading to a greater likelihood of translating research evidence into policy action. Engaging policymakers early as contributing members of the research team, maintaining communication during the research process, and presenting relevant findings in a clear, concise manner may empower both researchers and policymakers to further apply scientific evidence to improve social policy in the United States.
Raw search results, citations, and abstracts available upon request.
United States
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Comparative Effectiveness Research
Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change
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LEA is supported by a pre-doctoral Clinical and Translational Science Fellowship (NIH TL1 TR001858 (PI: Kraemer)). DAQ is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Academic Affiliations and the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. RCB is supported by the National Cancer Institute (P50CA244431) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006395). The funding entities had no role in the development, data collection, analysis, reporting, or publication of this work. Article processing charges for this article were fully paid by the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh.
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Ashcraft, L.E., Quinn, D.A. & Brownson, R.C. Strategies for effective dissemination of research to United States policymakers: a systematic review. Implementation Sci 15 , 89 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-01046-3
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Selecting the research, supporting theory-informed and evidence-informed practice, the experiences of group participants, implications for human service organizations.
This guest editorial explores how theory-informed and evidence-informed practice can be strengthened in human service organizations. This exploration involves the description of a Practice and Theory group intervention model. Based on a three-case study of pilot intervention groups provided to social workers, the short-term and intermediate outcomes as well as the expected intermediate and long-term outcomes are presented and illustrated by a logic model. The shared conversations help overcome the difficulties practitioners and managers may have in understanding the role of theory or research in practice. Discussing theories in the context of everyday practice can provide practitioners with concrete tools for decision-making. Applying and experimenting with theories opens new perspectives for the problem-solving process where the practitioner is experimenting, reflecting and seeking to improve practice. Thus, shared reflections of theories and research can promote adaptive and developmental workplace learning and enhance an individual sense of epistemic agency.
Practitioners often lack the access and time to read research publications and many lack the critical thinking skills needed to interpret research. They also often need to overcome the organizationally hostile attitudes toward research, inadequate supervision and/or the lack of autonomy to implement research (Gray, Joy, & Plath, Citation 2013 ; Nutley, Walter, & Davies, Citation 2007 ). All of these factors are taking on increased importance within the current context of implementation science and the introduction of evidence-informed practices (Bunger & Lengnick-Hall, Citation 2019 ).
The goal of this editorial is to explore the process of translating research knowledge in order to apply it to contemporary practice. This exploration involves the description of a group intervention model for disseminating research and supporting the problem-solving process that underlies evidence-informed practice. In addition to noting the outcomes of the group model, recommendations are provided for strengthening theory-informed practice in human service organizations.
Specifically, we emphasize the importance of organizational supportive structures for evidence-informed and theory-informed practice. Based on the findings of the Practice and Theory group, the editorial proposes providing professionals hands-on guidance on how to integrate research into practice and decision-making as part of their practice. We also propose that reflecting on the relevance of theories and research with colleagues, and deliberately experimenting in practice, supports adaptive and developmental learning. This can encourage professionals to develop personal and organizational practices and even to conduct practice research. Finally, we contend that obtaining new perspectives from research and contributing in shared knowledge creation can improve work-related sense of well-being.
Our discussion begins with a description of the context that impacted the authors, followed by an introduction of the three pilot interventions. Next, we discuss the role that research plays in the Practice and Theory group and how the research was selected. We then present the short-term and intermediate outcomes our research indicates as well as the expected intermediate and long-term outcomes illustrated by a logic model (Gugiua & Rodríguez-Campos, Citation 2007 ). We conclude with a set of recommendations.
Both authors have been involved with social work practice research at the Heikki Waris Institute funded by the Helsinki Metropolitan municipalities and University of Helsinki, Finland (Muurinen & Satka, Citation 2020 ). Both authors worked at the Institute, Aino Kääriäinen as a university lecturer and Heidi Muurinen as a researcher social worker and frequently recognized the challenges of disseminating results beyond the active practice communities. Both authors have been inspired by John Dewey’s ( Citation 1920/1950 , p. 121) writings about the relationship between theory and practice where concepts, theories and systems of thought are seen as tools to inform practice. Dewey’s ideas are used to support social workers in their efforts to utilize research in practice and underlie the design of our exploratory study of theory-informed group intervention (Kääriäinen & Muurinen, Citation 2019 ).
During 2015–2017, we conducted three pilot studies of the intervention groups to research how participating social workers reflected upon and utilized theories when reviewing qualitative research (Muurinen & Kääriäinen, Citation 2020 ). The first group was in a social work agency serving adults where Heidi Muurinen worked as a team manager. The next two groups were with social workers in child protection agencies. Of the three groups, two were jointly facilitated by the authors and the third was facilitated by Aino Kääriäinen and a development planner at the City of Helsinki. The three groups had a total of 16 participants who were all master’s-level social workers (M.Sc.Sc.). Participation was voluntary and the social workers were recruited from the organizations by e-mail.
The Practice and Theory group meets five to six times. In each session, the group chooses a research summary prepared by the group facilitator. For two weeks in-between the group meetings, each participant applies the chosen piece of research to their practice by analyzing their practice using theoretical concepts that are described in the research summary. The observations of the participants were then discussed in the group meetings. More detailed information about the group facilitation process is available in a guidebook (see Kääriäinen & Muurinen, Citation 2019 ).
Before the pilot groups began and without specifically knowing which social workers would participate and the questions they might find interesting, the group facilitators chose the research to be discussed within the group. Given the pilot nature of the group intervention model, the process and criteria for selecting the research topics were not very systematic. However, the criteria for selecting theories and research findings included: 1) could the selected theory support decision-making or provide substantial explanation of various client situations (Forte, Citation 2014 , p. 109), and 2) how might the selection process take into account some topical questions in the participants’ field of practice (e.g. child welfare services, adult and aging services, mental health services, etc.). Based on the notion that theories could be useful in analyzing a client or organizational situation (Dewey, Citation 1920 /1950, p. 128), the purpose of the theory and research selection process was to strengthen theory-informed practice and evidence-informed practice using qualitative research with less attention to quantitative research (based, in part, on the anticipated limited research skills of the group participants).
Figure 1. Criteria for selecting research with two example studies.
Based on the use of research in three different pilot intervention groups, it became apparent that more effort needed to be made to capture the range of participant research interests, despite our experience in receiving limited responses from the participants related to either proposing research questions or identifying relevant theories. In contrast, the participants really appreciated the preselected topics because, according to them, they did not feel confident in identifying interesting research or answerable questions in the group sessions. This issue could have been more adequately addressed if we had surveyed each participant in advance of each group session and guaranteeing anonymity.
Another approach to selecting research would be conducting a systematic literature review based on the preferences of the group participants. As part of the pilot project, we simply searched and selected publications that were familiar to us and we thought to be inspiring and relevant. However, instead of making a summary of one research article or theory description, a more comprehensive summary could have been written based on a number of relevant publications. It is not clear if the time needed for more wide-ranging preparations take would complicate the implementation of the group model.
Given the limited time available in the group for busy practitioners, only a few concepts or research findings can be covered, suggesting that only one set of research findings or a theory is most feasible. In contrast, larger research studies or theories would need to be spread out into more than one session. For example, in one of our groups, it was proposed that one theme per group session could focus on the implementation of the Finnish Systemic Practice Model (Isokuortti & Aaltio, Citation 2020 ).
In the next section, we provide two examples to demonstrate how social workers applied research in practice. Then, we collected brief versions of both short-term and intermediate outcomes envisioned by the group participants.
We named the group ’Practice and Theory’ because we wanted to emphasize the bridging of the perceived gap between practice and theory where theory is often viewed as speculation separate from practice (Payne, Citation 2014 , p. 4). The discussion of theory in the pilot groups was always linked to selected publications of qualitative research in order to promote evidence-informed or evidence-based practice with theory-informed practice (Austin, Citation 2020 , p. 26).
Malcom Payne ( Citation 2014 ) defines theory as “a generalized set of ideas that describes and explains our knowledge of the world around us in an organized way” (p. 5). Social work theories help to understand the nature of social work practice along with the perspectives of clients being served (ibid., 6). In the group, theory discussions included explanatory generalizations and conceptualizations based on research about the client world or research resulting in implications for social work practice.
The group discussed various social work practice theories (e.g., narrative practice), social science theories of facework and specifically the concept of “face” which describes how positive self-image is created, maintained and guarded in interaction with others (Goffman, Citation 1955 /2016), and philosophical theories related to I-Thou relationship which propose how in human relationships dialogical interaction can take place when the other person is acknowledged and respected as another “I”, not objectified and treated as “it” (Buber, Citation 1923 /2008). Theories about the client world included the conceptualization of having-to which describes the construction of adolescents’ agency from the viewpoint of cultural expectations in discussions with professionals (Juvonen, Citation 2014 ) and Actor-Network Theory which is a theoretical and methodological approach in analyzing symmetrically how human actors and non-human entities participate and influence the construction of social situations or systems (Latour, Citation 2005 ). In the group sessions, the focus was mostly on empirical generalizations or single concepts for easy grasp within one session as a way of encompassing wider theories or frameworks that need to be understood one concept at a time.
In the intervention groups, theories or conceptualizations were used to analyze situations, social problems or practice phenomena within the problem-solving process where knowledge is acquired, created, tested and evaluated. The evidence-informed decision-making process begins with defining an answerable question to which best available evidence is located and critically appraised, clients are informed, and the intervention is evaluated (Gambrill, Citation 2001 ).
Many different types of explanatory and interventive theories are intertwined in social work practice. For example, explanatory feminist perspective and systems theory framework can be applied to such interventive theories related to task-centered casework or motivational interviewing or cognitive-behavioral therapy (Payne, Citation 2014 , p. 5). If relevant evidence-based models are lacking, the explanatory theory perspective can still provide practitioners with frameworks to guide interventions.
Along with practice theories, research on client populations (e.g., children, the elderly, domestic violence survivors) can inform social worker regarding the needs, behaviors and relevant experiences of service users. If a practitioner reads a qualitative study about a client population and reflects upon how this research relates to one’s own practice, the application and analysis can lead to something surprising or contradictory. This form of abductive reasoning (making a probable conclusion from what you know) can lead to preliminary hypotheses as well as answerable questions leading to a search for the best available evidence on a variety of interventions (Peirce, Citation 1903 /1934, p. 117). The research on client populations can also include the identification of evidence-informed practices or the need for such practices. Finally, the search for qualitative research might also lead to practice recommendations and guidelines that can be applied in decision-making as will be noted in two examples later on in this discussion.
A distinction between an independent practitioner-focused understanding of evidence-informed practice and the group approach to reflecting upon the research findings and their applications is that the group enables participants to allocate time to considering research as well as find courage to publicly share in a safe space their understandings of the application of research to their own practice. Also, previous research has emphasized the importance of interactive group processes and supportive organizational structures for promoting evidence-informed practice (Austin & Carnochan, Citation 2020 ; Austin, Dal Santo, & Lee, Citation 2012 ; Carnochan, McBeath, & Austin, Citation 2017 ).
Figure 2. Two examples of the consequences of applying research to practice.
The results of the experiences of group participants are based on a thematic analysis of reflective discussions during the last group sessions and follow-up group interviews of the three pilot intervention groups in 2015–2017 (Muurinen & Kääriäinen, Citation 2020 ). The results to short-term and intermediate outcomes are identified by the participants.
It was significant that the group activities could be fitted into the busy schedules and practice of the participants. The group experiences provided the participants with an opportunity to see how research knowledge could be connected to practice given their limited experience with understanding this connection. Perhaps the most significant consequence of participating in the Practice and Theory group was that it lowered the perceived barriers to applying research as a way to reflect upon their own practice . By engaging in group discussions about theory and research, participants gained a new perspective to social work practice and by reflecting upon their professional experiences they were able to make new interpretations of their actions and their practice . According to the participants, the discussions of research knowledge and theoretical frameworks gave them a perspective to step back from daily practice as a way of helping them examine their decision-making and the actions taken.
Through personal and shared reflection, the practitioners became more aware of their own reasoning . They were able to use the research knowledge to recognize, improve, and appreciate their argumentation skills in decision-making . Participating in the discussion groups was professionally empowering for them as a way of developing new ways of operating that enhanced their ability to develop their practice skills related to increased productivity and effectiveness . With all these new perspectives and understandings, participants reported that they felt inspired and excited about their work and noted that the group experience of engaging with theory and research would improve their work-related sense of well-being .
Figure 3. Logic model for practice and theory pilot group intervention (based on Gugiua & Rodríguez-Campos, Citation 2007 ).
Even though the logic model helps to illustrate expected outcomes, learning is a complex process that does not always proceed in a linear and rational manner. The relational aspects of learning were evident when group members analyzed the theories together. Listening to each other provided new perspectives for interpreting practice situations as well as seeing themselves as professionals engaging with research and theory. For example, the theory-based conversations not only provided participants with new understanding about theories but also increased their sense of agency in making deliberate and conscious decisions along with the explication of the reasons for taking actions. Group members not only saw how the use of theories could become tools for practice but also how the shared experience of learning together could lead to shared reflections and knowledge creation.
The learning challenges inherent in the process of engaging in evidence-informed practice call for both adaptive and developmental learning (Nilsen, Neher, Ellström, & Gardner, Citation 2020 ). Adaptive learning involves transforming explicit knowledge found in research and theories into implicit or tacit knowledge that links explanatory theory with the interventive theories of practice as well as research findings that inform practice and related knowledge about client populations. Developmental learning builds upon prior knowledge and practice experience that involves transforming implicit knowledge acquired over years of practice into explicit knowledge that takes into account personal thoughts or habits and deliberate actions based upon articulated decision-making processes.
Developmental learning can be well supported through reflective discussions based on research. For example, Nilsen, Nordström, and Ellström ( Citation 2012 ) provided managers with opportunities to engage in reflection groups to discuss research in Sweden in order to support the use of research as part of the developmental learning experienced by managers. Participating enhanced the managers’ self-efficacy concerning their role as leaders, supported handling different dilemmas and increased their understanding of their work (Nilsen et al., Citation 2012 ).
In the Practice and Theory group, adaptive and developmental learning were also present. Adaptive learning took place, for example, when the participants gained new understanding in how research is connected to practice. Another example of adoptive learning is how the social workers in the above case integrated the ethical decision-making model to their practice. The participants also received new understanding of phenomena related to clients’ lives which, as one participant describes, increased understanding of where the clients “ are coming from, what their experience is of everything, and in a good way this [theory] brings the background” .
Meanwhile, developmental learning was present when the participants used the theories or research to step back from their professional practice to reflect upon their assumptions or to deliberately explore new ways of operating. For example, the SW2 in the above case was able to make the reasons for a custody care decision more explicit by considering the six-stages of ethical decision-making. This also increased SW2’s understanding of the importance of making the tacit knowledge more explicit. Thus, the Practice and Theory group model allowed for the combining of both adaptive and developmental learning. It also provided hands-on-guidance integrating knowledge about explanatory and interventive theories that could enhance their professional practice, one of the most challenging aspects of evidence-informed practice (Nilsen et al., Citation 2020 , p. 413).
We conclude this editorial with the identification of implications for human service organizations and further research. Organizational strategies are needed to overcome the well-known barriers (e.g., lack of time, access and skills or negative attitudes) such as the Practice and Theory Group Model that provides staff (Muurinen & Kääriäinen, Citation 2020 ) or managers with the use of reflective groups (Nilsen et al., Citation 2012 ) that can enhance theory-based practice and evidence-based practice in human service organizations.
To address the persistent lack of staff time and access to research, the group sessions can be easily incorporated into the busy schedules of practitioners. When research and theory are shared with practitioners, there are opportunities for immediate application in the form of small experiments carried out within the context of everyday practice. However, organizations need to support the efforts of the group facilitators beyond the actual sessions with staff to account for the time needed for preparation. In addition, group facilitators need to be able to understand the core idea of group learning as well as the concepts of theory-based and evidence-based practice. A facilitator’s Guidebook includes key references for this type of staff facilitation (see Kääriäinen & Muurinen, Citation 2019 ).
One of the significant outcomes for participants in the Practice and Theory group was an increased sense of work-related well-being. Some of the short-term outcomes reported by the participants included: 1) a new appreciation of one’s personal skills, 2) feeling inspired about one’s own work and 3) being professionally empowered. Supporting work-related well-being is especially significant among social workers who have higher probability for staff burn-out (Rantonen et al., Citation 2019 ).
How can theory-based and evidence-based practice be strengthened in human service organizations? The shared conversations in everyday practice help overcoming the difficulties practitioners and managers may have in understanding the role of theory or research in practice. Discussing theories in the context of everyday practice can provide practitioners with concrete tools for decision-making. This means acknowledging and utilizing theories, perspectives, frameworks and conceptualizations when: a) analyzing situations b) forming answerable questions, c) searching for and selecting relevant research, and d) utilizing theories to inform interventions especially when evidence-based practice findings are not available. Applying and experimenting with theories opens new perspectives for problem-solving process where the practitioner is experimenting, reflecting, experimenting and seeking to improve practice.
In addition to incorporating theories into decision-making, the reflective process itself can support a sense of agency among staff and managers. When practitioners have the opportunity to reflect upon the use and relevance of theories and thereby deliberately engage in experimentation, they become contributors to knowledge creation (Dewey, Citation 1920 /1950, p. 89). A sense of epistemic agency is derived from what one knows or does not know (Reed, Citation 2001 , p. 522) when seeking to increase one’s ability to set a goal, motivate oneself, make a long-term plan and evaluate ones’ own actions (Scardamalia, Citation 2002 ). Gaining a stronger sense of epistemic agency also strengthens the capacity of practitioners to make their reasoning more explicit beyond their experiential knowledge, legislation or organizations’ protocols by actively using research on client populations as well as theories about human behavior and the social environment.
Facilitating the Practice and Theory groups has demonstrated to us how short intervention can enhance theory-informed and evidence-informed practice. Also, creating a safe space for discussing, sharing personal experiences, and exploring ideas supports organizational learning (also Austin, Citation 2020 ; Carnochan et al., Citation 2017 ). However, evaluation research is still needed on the outcomes of this group model as well as implementation research on how the model could be used in different environments.
The pilot intervention can also lead to qualitative research or to theory development. First, the shared reflection around the existing research can lead to new research questions and to conducting practice research, as in our example of SW2 above. Second, the group discussions generate interesting qualitative data that could be used by practice researchers as a less-traditional method of collecting qualitative data that could be used for developing practice-related concepts or theories based on recorded practical reflections. Third, the group model could also be expanded to promote shared practice research projects with the group participants as co-researchers so that the data could be analyzed together within the group.
A group model as we have described can be used in human service organizations to enhance implementation science by acknowledging the role of theory-based practice and evidence-informed practice. Through shared critical thinking and reflection, theories and research findings can enhance the understanding and the promotion of different perspectives in both clinical and managerial work in organizational settings. Shared reflections of theories and research can promote both adaptive and developmental workplace learning as a way of enhancing an individual sense of agency.
We thank Professor Michael J. Austin for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this guest editorial.
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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Social Work Research Methods is a stand alone "how-to" social research text that covers conceptualization, design, implementation, data management, and statistical analysis with comprehensively detailed examples.
It provides students with everything they need to learn about social science research, and how complete a research project from start to finish. In addition, the text's research process is covered sequentially, in a straightforward “how-to” format. It discusses values and ethics, conceptualization, design, familiarization with key computer programs (Microsoft Excel, SAS, SPSS and NVIVO), analyses, implementation and dissemination. It is also written in a tone that is intentionally light-hearted to increase student interest and comfort level by addressing often overlooked aspects of conducting research (e.g. data management, IRB clearance, and grant development) in detail.
Key highlights of the text include five example research projects. These example projects are presented in their entirety; including how the researchers chose their areas of interest, how they executed their literature reviews (annotated citation lists are given), and how they designed, implemented, and disseminated (poster, article, agency report, or PowerPoint presentation) their work.
From the back cover.
Social Work Research Methods: From Conceptualization to Dissemination
Melissa Jonson-Reid
Basic Approach:
Written in an intentionally light-hearted tone, Social Work Research Methods is a stand alone "how-to" text that provides everything necessary to learn about social science research and complete a research project from start to finish. It covers conceptualization, design, implementation, data management, and statistical analysis through rich examples designed to increase interest and comfort level.
What the reviewers are saying…
“There are no superfluous side trips into abstract theory or explanations of ‘why’ [students] should be interested in research. It just teaches them how to do it. It cuts to the chase from the beginning, and this prevents students from being turned off before they begin.”
Ted R. Watkins, Texas State University–San Marcos
“[ Social Work Research Methods ] includes many aspects of the research process (e.g., pilot testing an instrument, getting access to subjects, monitoring data collection) that are simply overlooked by the average research methods text, yet are crucial to a solid research study. The authors visit issues that come up in real research, yet are not considered very much in standard texts. It is an actual guidebook in carrying out research.”
Carolyn Turturro, University of Arkansas–Little Rock
“The writing is crisp, fresh, and clear…Students will likely find this text a fun read.”
Dean F. Duncan, III, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
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MyHelpingKit is a one-stop online portal that provides students with chapter-by-chapter Learning Objectives, Chapter Summaries, Practice Tests, Flashcards, Research Activities and Research Navigator™.
Value-Packaged at Minimal Charge (Also Available Separately):
…A workbook to accompany Social Work Research Methods. It includes exercises for each chapter, evidence-based practice modules, and step-by-step instructions for students working on their own research projects.
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Open Access
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation Open and Reproducible Research Group, Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science, Graz University of Technology and Know-Center GmbH, Graz, Austria
Affiliation Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity, University of Paris, Paris, France
Affiliation Freelance Researcher, Vilnius, Lithuania
Affiliation University and National Library, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
Affiliation Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
Affiliation Open Knowledge Maps, Vienna, Austria
Affiliation National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Affiliation Center for Digital Safety and Security, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Published: April 16, 2020
How we communicate research is changing because of new (especially digital) possibilities. This article sets out 10 easy steps researchers can take to disseminate their work in novel and engaging ways, and hence increase the impact of their research on science and society.
Citation: Ross-Hellauer T, Tennant JP, Banelytė V, Gorogh E, Luzi D, Kraker P, et al. (2020) Ten simple rules for innovative dissemination of research. PLoS Comput Biol 16(4): e1007704. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007704
Editor: Russell Schwartz, Carnegie Mellon University, UNITED STATES
Copyright: © 2020 Ross-Hellauer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work was partly funded by the OpenUP project, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 710722. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: We have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: TR-H is Editor-in-Chief of the open access journal Publications . JT is the founder of the Open Science MOOC, and a former employee of ScienceOpen.
As with virtually all areas of life, research dissemination has been disrupted by the internet and digitally networked technologies. The last two decades have seen the majority of scholarly journals move online, and scholarly books are increasingly found online as well as in print. However, these traditional communication vehicles have largely retained similar functions and formats during this transition. But digital dissemination can happen in a variety of ways beyond the traditional modes: social media have become more widely used among researchers [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], and the use of blogs and wikis as a specific form of ‘open notebook science’ has been popular for more than a decade [ 4 ].
Professional academic social networks such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu boast millions of users. New online formats for interaction with the wider public, such as TED talks broadcast via YouTube, often receive millions of views. Some researchers have even decided to make all of their research findings public in real time by keeping open notebooks [ 5 , 6 ]. In particular, digital technologies invoke new ways of reaching and involving audiences beyond their usual primary dissemination targets (i.e., other scholars) to actively involve peers or citizens who would otherwise remain out of reach for traditional methods of communication [ 7 ]. Adoption of these outlets and methods can also lead to new cross-disciplinary collaborations, helping to create new research, publication, and funding opportunities [ 8 ].
Beyond the increase in the use of web-based and computational technologies, other trends in research cultures have had a profound effect on dissemination. The push towards greater public understanding of science and research since the 1980s, and an emphasis on engagement and participation of non-research audiences have brought about new forms of dissemination [ 9 ]. These approaches include popular science magazines and science shows on television and the radio. In recent years, new types of events have emerged that aim at involving the general public within the research process itself, including science slams and open lab days. With science cafés and hackerspaces, novel, participatory spaces for research production and dissemination are emerging—both online and offline. Powerful trends towards responsible research and innovation, the increasing globalisation of research, and the emergence and inclusion of new or previously excluded stakeholders or communities are also reshaping the purposes of dissemination as well as the scope and nature of its audiences.
Many now view wider dissemination and public engagement with science to be a fundamental element of open science [ 10 ]. However, there is a paradox at play here, for while there have never been more avenues for the widespread dissemination of research, researchers tend nonetheless to value and focus upon just a few traditional outputs: journal articles, books, and conference presentations [ 11 ].
Following Wilson and colleagues [ 12 ], we here define research dissemination as a planned process that involves consideration of target audiences, consideration of the settings in which research findings are to be received, and communicating and interacting with wider audiences in ways that will facilitate research uptake and understanding. Innovative dissemination, then, means dissemination that goes beyond traditional academic publishing (e.g., academic journals, books, or monographs) and meetings (conferences and workshops) to achieve more widespread research uptake and understanding. Hence, a citizen science project, which involves citizens in data collection but does not otherwise educate them about the research, is not here considered innovative dissemination.
We here present 10 steps researchers can take to embrace innovative dissemination practices in their research, either as individuals or groups ( Fig 1 ). They represent the synthesis of multidimensional research activities undertaken within the OpenUP project ( https://www.openuphub.eu/ ). This European Coordination and Support Action grant award addressed key aspects and challenges of the currently transforming science landscape and proposed recommendations and solutions addressing the needs of researchers, innovators, the public, and funding bodies. The goal is to provide stakeholders (primarily researchers but also intermediaries) with an entry point to innovative dissemination, so that they can choose methods and tools based on their audience, their skills, and their requirements. The advice is directed towards both individual researchers and research teams or projects. It is similar to other entries in the Ten Simple Rules series (e.g., [ 13 , 14 ]). Ultimately, the benefit here for researchers is increased recognition and social impact of their work.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007704.g001
Despite changes in communication technologies and models, there are some basic organisational aspects of dissemination that remain important: to define objectives, map potential target audience(s), target messages, define mode of communication/engagement, and create a dissemination plan. These might seem a bit obvious or laborious but are critical first steps towards strategically planning a project.
The motivation to disseminate research can come in many forms. You might want to share your findings with wider nonacademic audiences to raise awareness of particular issues or invite audience engagement, participation, and feedback. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve with your dissemination. This first strategic step will make all other subsequent steps much simpler, as well as guide how you define the success of your activities.
Specify who exactly you want your research results to reach, for which purposes, and what their general characteristics might be (e.g., policy makers, patient groups, non-governmental organisations). Individuals are not just ‘empty vessels’ to be filled with new knowledge, and having a deeper contextual understanding of your audience can make a real difference to the success of your engagement practices. Who is most affected by your research? Who might find it most valuable? What is it that you want them to take away? Get to know your target audiences, their needs and expectations of the research outcomes, as well as their preferred communication channels to develop a detailed understanding of their interests and align your messages and media with their needs and priorities. Keep in mind, too, that intermediaries such as journalists or science communication organisations can support or mediate the dissemination process.
Target and frame the key messages that you want to communicate to specific groups. Think first from the perspective of what they might want or need to hear from you, rather than what you want to tell them. Choosing media and format of your communication strongly depends on your communication objectives, i.e., what you want to achieve. There are many ways to communicate your research; for example, direct messages, blog/vlog posts, tweeting about it, or putting your research on Instagram. Form and content go hand in hand. Engage intermediaries and leverage any relevant existing networks to help amplify messages.
Many funded research projects require a dissemination plan. However, even if not, the formal exercise of creating a plan at the outset that organises dissemination around distinct milestones in the research life cycle will help you to assign roles, structure activities, as well as plan funds to be allocated in your dissemination. This will ultimately save you time and make future work easier. If working in groups, distribute tasks and effort to ensure regular updates of content targeted to different communities. Engage those with special specific skills in the use and/or development of appropriate communication tools, to help you in using the right language and support you in finding the suitable occasions to reach your identified audience. Research is not linear, however, and so you might find it best to treat the plan as a living document to be flexibly adapted as the direction of research changes.
Whether communicating as an individual researcher, a research project, or a research organisation, establishing a prominent and unique identity online and offline is essential for communicating. Use personal websites, social media accounts, researcher identifiers, and academic social networks to help make you and your research visible. When doing this, try to avoid any explicit self-promotion—your personal profile naturally will develop based on your ability to be an effective and impactful communicator.
Academia is a prestige economy, where individual researchers are often evaluated based on their perceived esteem or standing within their communities [ 15 ]. Remaining visible is an essential part of accumulating esteem. An online presence maintained via personal websites, social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), researcher identifiers (e.g., ORCID), and academic social networks (e.g., ResearchGate, institutional researcher profiles) can be a personal calling card, where you can highlight experience and demonstrate your expertise in certain topics. Being active on important mailing lists, forums, and social media is not only a good chance to disseminate your findings to those communities but also offers you the chance to engage with your community and potentially spark new ideas and collaborations.
Using researcher identifiers like ORCID when disseminating outputs will ensure that those outputs will be unambiguously linked back to the individual researcher (and even automatically updated to their ORCID profile). The OpenUP survey showed that nearly half of the respondents (41%) use academic social networks as a medium to disseminate their research, and a quarter of respondents (26%) said that these networks informed their professional work [ 16 ].
Create a brand by giving your project a unique name, ideally with some intuitive relation to the issue you are investigating. Create a striking visual identity, with a compelling logo, core colours, and a project slogan. Create a website that leverages this visual identity and is as simple and intuitive as possible, both in its layout and in the way content is formulated (limit insider jargon). Create associated appropriate social media accounts (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, YouTube) and link to this from the project website. Aim for a sustained presence with new and engaging content to reinforce project messaging, and this can help to establish a core following group or user base within different platforms. Include links to other project online presences such as social media accounts, or a rolling feed of updates if possible. Consider including a blog to disseminate core findings or give important project updates. A periodical newsletter could be released in order to provide project updates and other news, to keep the community informed and activated regarding project issues. Depending on the size of your project and budget, you might want to produce hard copy material such as leaflets or fact sheets, as well as branded giveaways to increase awareness of your project. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, try not to come across as a ‘scientific robot’, and make sure to communicate the more human personality side of research.
In the age of open research, don’t just broadcast. Invite and engage others to foster participation and collaboration with research audiences. Scholarship is a collective endeavour, and so we should not expect its dissemination to be unidirectional, especially not in the digital age. Dissemination is increasingly done at earlier stages of the research life cycle, and such wider and more interactive engagement is becoming an integral part of the whole research workflow.
Such participative activities can be as creative as you wish; for example, through games, such as Foldit for protein folding ( https://fold.it/portal/ ). You might even find it useful to actively engage ‘citizen scientists’ in research projects; for example, to collect data or analyse findings. Initiatives such as Zooniverse ( https://www.zooniverse.org/ ) serve as great examples of allowing anyone to freely participate in cutting-edge ‘people-powered research’.
Disseminating early and often showcases the progress of your work and demonstrates productivity and engagement as part of an agile development workflow. People like to see progress and react positively to narrative, so give regular updates to followers on social media, for example, blogging or tweeting early research findings for early feedback. Alternatively, involving businesses early on can align research to industry requirements and expectations, thus potentially increasing commercial impact. In any case, active involvement of citizens and other target audiences beyond academia can help increase the societal impact of your research [ 17 ].
Open science is ‘transparent and accessible knowledge that is shared and developed through collaborative networks’, as defined by one systematic review [ 18 ]. It encompasses a variety of practices covering a range of research processes and outputs, including areas like open access (OA) to publications, open research data, open source software/tools, open workflows, citizen science, open educational resources, and alternative methods for research evaluation including open peer review [ 19 ]. Open science is rooted in principles of equitable participation and transparency, enabling others to collaborate in, contribute to, scrutinise and reuse research, and spread knowledge as widely as possible [ 20 ]. As such, innovative dissemination is a core element of open science.
Embracing open science principles can boost the impact of research. Firstly, OA publications seem to accrue more citations than their closed counterparts, as well as having a variety of possible wider economic and societal benefits [ 21 ]. There are a number of ways to make research papers OA, including at the journal site itself, or self-archiving an accepted manuscript in a repository or personal website.
Disseminating publications as preprints in advance of or parallel to journal submission can increase impact, as measured by relative citation counts [ 22 ]. Very often, traditional publishing takes a long time, with the waiting time between submission and acceptance of a paper being in excess of 100 days [ 23 ]. Preprinting speeds up dissemination, meaning that findings are available sooner for sharing and reuse. Potential platforms for disseminating preprints include the Open Science Framework, biorXiv, or arXiv.
Dissemination of other open science outputs that would usually remain hidden also not only helps to ensure the transparency and increased reproducibility of research [ 24 ], but also means that more research elements are released that can potentially impact upon others by creating network effects through reuse. Making FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) research data and code available enables reuse and remixing of core research outputs, which can also lead to further citations for projects [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Published research proposals, protocols, and open notebooks act as advertisements for ongoing research and enable others to reuse methods, exposing the continuous and collaborative nature of scholarship.
To enable reuse, embrace open licenses. When it comes to innovative dissemination, the goal is usually that the materials are accessible to as large an audience as possible. If appropriate open licenses are not used, while materials may be free to access, they cannot be widely used, modified, or shared. The best in this case is the widely adopted Creative Commons licenses, CC BY or CC 0. Variations of these licenses are less permissive and can constrain reuse for commercial or derivative purposes. This limitation, however, prevents the use of materials in many forms of (open) educational resources and other open projects, including Wikipedia. Careful consideration should be given to licensing of materials, depending on what your intended outcomes from the project are (see Rule 1). Research institutes and funding bodies typically have a variety of policies and guidance about the use and licensing of such materials, and should be consulted prior to releasing any materials.
Traditional research outputs like research articles and books can be complemented with innovative dissemination to boost impact; for example, by preparing accompanying nonspecialist summaries, press releases, blog posts, and visual/video abstracts to better reach your target audiences. Free media coverage can be an easy way to get results out to as many people as possible. There are countless media outlets interested in science-related stories. Most universities and large research organisations have an office for public affairs or communication: liaise with these experts to disseminate research findings widely through public media. Consider writing a press release for manuscripts that have been accepted for publication in journals or books and use sample forms and tools available online to assist you in the process. Some journals also have dedicated press teams that might be able to help you with this.
Another useful tool to disseminate traditional research outputs is to release a research summary document. This one- or two-page document clearly and concisely summarises the key conclusions from a research initiative. It can combine several studies by the same investigator or by a research group and should integrate two main components: key findings and fact sheets (preferably with graphical images to illustrate your point). This can be published on your institutional website as well as on research blogs, thematic hubs, or simply posted on your social media profiles. Other platforms such as ScienceOpen and Kudos allow authors to attach nonspecialist summaries to each of their research papers.
To maximise the impact of your conference presentations or posters, there are several steps that can be taken. For instance, you can upload your slides to a general-purpose repository such as Figshare or Zenodo and add a digital object identifier (DOI) to your presentation. This also makes it easier to integrate such outputs with other services like ORCID. You can also schedule tweets before and during any conferences, and use the conference hashtag to publicise your talk or poster. Finally, you can also add information about your contributions to email signatures or out-of-office messages [ 28 ].
In-person dissemination does not just have to be at stuffy conferences. With research moving beyond the walls of universities, there are several types of places for more participatory events. Next to classic scientific conferences, different types of events addressing wider audiences have emerged. It is possible to hit the road and take part in science festivals, science slams, TEDx talks, or road shows.
Science slams are short talks in which researchers explain a scientific topic to a typically nonexpert audience. Similar to other short talk formats like TED talks, they lend themselves to being spread over YouTube and other video channels. A prominent example from the German-speaking area is Giulia Enders, who won the first prize in a science slam that took place in 2012 in Berlin. The YouTube video of her fascinating talk about the gut has received over 1 million views. After this success, she got an offer to write a book about the gut and the digestive system, which has since been published and translated into many languages. You never know how these small steps might end up having a wider impact on your research and career.
Another example is Science Shops, small entities which provide independent, participatory research support to civil society. While they are usually linked to universities, hacker and maker spaces tend to be community-run locations, where people with an interest in science, engineering, and art meet and collaborate on projects. Science festivals are community-based showcases of science and technology that take place over large areas for several days or weeks and directly involve researchers and practitioners in public outreach. Less formally, Science Cafés or similar events like Pint of Science are public engagement events in casual settings like pubs and coffeehouses.
Alternatively, for a more personal approach, consider reaching out to key stakeholders who might be affected by your research and requesting a meeting, or participating in relevant calls for policy consultations. Such an approach can be especially powerful in getting the message across to decision-makers and thought-leaders, although the resources required to schedule and potentially travel to such meetings means you should target such activities very carefully. And don’t forget the value of serendipity—who knows who you’ll meet in the course of your everyday meetings and travels. Always be prepared with a 30 second ‘elevator pitch’ that sums up your project in a confident and concise manner—such encounters may be the gateways to greater engagement or opportunities.
Dissemination of research is still largely ruled by the written or spoken word. However, there are many ways to introduce visual elements that can act as attractive means to help your audience understand and interpret your research. Disseminate findings through art or multimedia interpretations. Let your artistic side loose or use new visualisation techniques to produce intuitive, attractive data displays. Of course, not everyone is a trained artist, and this will be dependent on your personal skills.
Most obviously, this could take the form of data visualisation. Graphic representation of quantitative information reaches back to ‘earliest map-making and visual depiction’ [ 29 ]. As technologies have advanced, so have our means of visually representing data.
If your data visualisations could be considered too technical and not easily understandable by a nonexpert reader, consider creating an ad hoc image for this document; sometimes this can also take the form of a graphical abstract or infographic. Use online tools to upload a sample of your data and develop smart graphs and infographics (e.g., Infogr.am, Datawrapper, Easel.ly, or Venngage).
Science comics can be used, in the words of McDermott, Partridge, and Bromberg [ 30 ], to ‘communicate difficult ideas efficiently, illuminate obscure concepts, and create a metaphor that can be much more memorable than a straightforward description of the concept itself’. McDermott and colleagues continue that comics can be used to punctuate or introduce papers or presentations and to capture and share the content of conference talks, and that some journals even have a ‘cartoon’ publication category. They advise that such content has a high chance of being ‘virally’ spread via social media.
As previously discussed, you may also consider creating a video abstract for a paper or project. However, as with all possible methods, it is worth considering the relative costs versus benefits of such an approach. Creating a high-quality video might have more impact than, say, a blog post but could be more costly to produce.
Projects have even successfully disseminated scientific findings through art. For example, The Civilians—a New York–based investigative theatre company—received a three-year grant to develop The Great Immensity , a play addressing the complexity of climate change. AstroDance tells the story of the search for gravitational waves through a combination of dance, multimedia, sound, and computer simulations. The annual Dance Your PhD contest, which began in 2007 and is sponsored by Science magazine, even asks scientists to interpret their PhD research as dance. This initiative receives approximately 50 submissions a year, demonstrating the popularity of novel forms of research dissemination.
The academic discourse on diversity has always included discussions on gender, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, digital literacy, and epistemic, ideological, or economic diversity. An approach that is often taken is to include as many diverse groups into research teams as possible; for example, more women, underrepresented minorities, or persons from developing countries. In terms of scientific communication, however, not only raising awareness about diversity issues but also increasing visibility of underrepresented minorities in research or including more women in science communication teams should be considered, and embedded in projects from the outset. Another important aspect is assessing how the communication messages are framed, and if the chosen format and content is appropriate to address and respect all audiences. Research should reach all who might be affected by it. Respect inclusion in scientific dissemination by creating messages that reflect and respect diversity regarding factors like gender, demography, and ability. Overcoming geographic barriers is also important, as well as the consideration of differences in time zones and the other commitments that participants might have. As part of this, it is a key responsibility to create a healthy and welcoming environment for participation. Having things such as a code of conduct, diversity statement, and contributing guidelines can really help provide this for projects.
The 2017 Progression Framework benchmarking report of the Scientific Council made several recommendations on how to make progress on diversity and inclusion in science: (1) A strategy and action plan for diversity should developed that requires action from all members included and (2) diversity should be included in a wide range of scientific activities, such as building diversity into prizes, awards, or creating guidance on building diversity and inclusion across a range of demographics groups into communications, and building diversity and inclusion into education and training.
Innovative dissemination practices often require different resources and skills than traditional dissemination methods. As a result of different skills and tools needed, there may be higher costs associated with some aspects of innovative dissemination. You can find tools via a more-complete range of sources, including the OpenUP Hub. The Hub lists a catalogue of innovative dissemination services, organised according to the following categories, with some suggested tools:
The Hub here represents just one attempt to create a registry of resources related to scholarly communication. A similar project is the 101 Innovations in Scholarly Communication project, which contains different tools and services for all parts of a generalised research workflow, including dissemination and outreach. This can be broadly broken down into services for communication through social media (e.g., Twitter), as well as those designed for sharing of scholarly outputs, including posters and presentations (e.g., Zenodo or Figshare). The Open Science MOOC has also curated a list of resources for its module on Public Engagement with Science, and includes key research articles, organisations, and services to help with wider scientific engagement.
Assess your dissemination activities. Are they having the right impact? If not, why not? Evaluation of dissemination efforts is an essential part of the process. In order to know what worked and which strategies did not generate the desired outcomes, all the research activities should be rigorously assessed. Such evaluation should be measured via the use of a combination of quantitative and qualitative indicators (which should be already foreseen in the planning stage of dissemination; see Rule 1). Questionnaires, interviews, observations, and assessments could also be used to measure the impact. Assessing and identifying the most successful practices will give you the evidence for the most effective strategies to reach your audience. In addition, the evaluation can help you plan your further budget and minimise the spending and dedicating efforts on ineffective dissemination methods.
Some examples of quantitative indicators include the following:
Some examples of qualitative indicators include the following:
We recognise that researchers are usually already very busy, and we do not seek to pressurise them further by increasing their burdens. Our recommendations, however, come at a time when there are shifting norms in how researchers are expected to engage with society through new technologies. Researchers are now often partially evaluated based on such, or expected to include dissemination plans in grant applications. We also do not want to encourage the further fragmentation of scholarship across different platforms and ‘silos’, and therefore we strongly encourage researchers to be highly strategic in how they engage with different methods of innovative dissemination. We hope that these simple rules provide guidance for researchers and their future projects, especially as the tools and services available evolve through time. Some of these suggestions or platforms might not work across all project types, and it is important for researchers to find which methods work best for them.
Many thanks to everyone who engaged with the workshops we conducted as part of this grant award.
By Sue Coyle, MSW Social Work Today
Become a social work leader and advance your professional practice through UB's Doctor of Social Work (DSW) in Social Welfare program. Our part-time, online DSW program is the first and only DSW program in SUNY and one of about 40 programs across the United States.
Our 39-credit DSW program is aimed at experienced social workers with a desire to advance their professional practice and address research-to-practice gaps through the application of implementation science . DSW students will learn to effectively integrate evidence into the practice setting to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Our program incorporates the signature strengths of the school’s trauma-informed and human rights (TI-HR) perspective into the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based treatments with vulnerable populations.
As a part-time, fully online program, the DSW capitalizes on the latest digital technologies to innovate social work education and practice. Graduates are prepared to assume leadership in the implementation and dissemination of advanced social work practice and contribute to advancing equity and bringing a TI-HR perspective into practice.
Based on coursework and knowledge gained within the program, students implement a Capstone Project in their agency with a target population.
Three fundamental aspects make our online DSW program unique:
SW 620 Digital Technology and Professional Collaboration Networks for Social Work Practice SW 626 Doctoral Seminar in Trauma and Human Rights
SW 621 Concepts in Implementation Science SW 622 Evaluating & Utilizing Evidence-Based Practices in Social Work
SW 624 Methods in Implementation Science I SW 627 Organizational Characteristics & Implementing Evidence-Based Practice
SW 631 DSW Capstone I: Identifying Evidence-Based Interventions for Translation SW 635 Methods in Implementation Science II
SW 632 DSW Capstone II: Designing Implementation Strategies SW XXX Elective*
SW 633 DSW Capstone III: Testing Implementation Strategies SW 629 Disseminating, Spreading/Scaling, and Sustaining Interventions
SW 634 DSW Capstone IV: Evaluating & Disseminating Interventions
* Electives: Students must complete one 3-credit elective throughout the DSW program. The elective will be selected in consultation with the DSW Program Director. The elective should have a direct relevance to the student’s substantive area and/or enable the student to expand pedagogical skills. In any case, students should have a clear rationale for electives they select.
Suggested elective:
SW 628 Teaching and Pedagogy
In general, electives should be taken at the graduate level and from within the UBSSW DSW or Master of Social Work (MSW) program. In order to take a MSW course for DSW elective credit:
Capstone project overview.
The Capstone Project is a four-semester process incorporating implementation science principles and strategies to promote the adoption and integration of evidence-based interventions in direct practice settings and advance the trauma-informed human rights perspective. Under guidance from DSW program faculty, students independently identify and pursue a problem, intervention, and implementation research question(s) of their choice. They then implement the intervention at their agency with a target population. The target population can include clients, practitioners, administrators, volunteers, and/or other individuals associated with or served by the student’s agency.
During the first two semesters of the four semester Capstone Project, students will develop an Implementation Research Project Proposal. The proposal must include a literature review; theory, model and/or conceptual framework; implementation science strategies; methodology; analytic strategy; and timeline for completion of work. Students will also need to complete requisite university Institutional Review Board (IRB) steps as well as obtain any agency required IRB (if applicable).
Provided faculty approval is granted, students will move forward with the implementation, evaluation, and dissemination phase of their Capstone Project during their last two semesters. With faculty support, students implement their proposed project, collect and analyze data, and critically evaluate their results. Students must develop and submit a Capstone Project Final Paper which is a written description of their project. The assignment is designed to provide students with a product that will provide the basis for a manuscript for publication or other means of dissemination.
Select DSW courses are approved for NYSED social work contact hours to renew your license registration. If you have a license in another state, check with your state regulatory board to determine if NY hours will be accepted in your state. Each of the 3-credit online DSW courses listed on the form is approved for 45 NYSED live online social work contact hours.
Use the form below to request a contact hours certificate upon completion of DSW coursework.
Approved tuition rates for fall 2024 are as follows.
New York Residents | Out-of-State/ International | |
Tuition (per credit hour) | $800 | $1,092 |
Tuition + Fees (per credit hour) |
DSW students will be required to purchase a stand-alone virtual reality headset that will be used throughout the DSW program. The estimated cost is $300-$400. Details on the specific headset to be purchased will be provided upon acceptance into the program.
DSW students can apply for financial aid via the FAFSA .
To qualify for the in-state tuition rate, admitted students must provide proof of New York State residency. Visit the accepted student information page for details.
Contact us: [email protected]
“We need culturally responsive interventions that work now.”
Learn more about our current DSW students >>>
Introduction, limitations, supplementary material.
Sarah Binks, Lyndal Hickey, Airin Heath, Anna Bornemisza, Lauren Goulding, Arno Parolini, Social Workers’ Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Social Work Practice in Schools: A Scoping Review, The British Journal of Social Work , Volume 54, Issue 6, September 2024, Pages 2661–2680, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcae046
The aim of this scoping review was to establish the breadth of the academic literature regarding the barriers and facilitators to social work practice in schools as perceived by School Social Workers (SSWs). Following the PRISMA-ScR Scoping Review Framework, 42 articles were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. Five interrelated themes related to the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice were identified: (1) Inadequacy of service delivery infrastructure; (2) SSWs’ role ambiguities and expectations; (3) SSWs’ competency, knowledge and support; (4) School climate and context; and (5) Cultivating relationships and engagement. This scoping review found that social workers perceive far greater barriers than facilitators when delivering services in school settings, with limited evidence related to the facilitators that enhance School Social Work (SSW) practice. Further research regarding the facilitators of SSW practice is needed, specifically in countries where research on this topic is emergent.
Within the field of Social Work (SW), School Social Work (SSW) practice is a unique specialization that is committed to supporting students to thrive and reach their full educational potential. There is a growing need for school-based mental health services due to the changing political, economic, cultural and environmental contexts and challenges of the last 10 years, that have seen an increase in xenophobia; racism; and social, economic and health inequalities ( Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ; Villarreal Sosa, 2022 ). School Social Workers (SSWs) have been instrumental in providing effective psychosocial and mental health interventions to students and their families to overcome such educational barriers and inequities related to homelessness, family violence, bullying, school violence, sexuality, grief and loss, disabilities, school attendance and in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic ( Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Allen-Meares et al. , 2013 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Webber, 2018 ; Smith-Millman et al. , 2019 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Karikari et al. , 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ). However, for SSWs to effectively respond to the increased need and demands for service, they must successfully overcome barriers to effective SSW practice such as: resource restrictions; unmanageable workloads; ambiguous roles and responsibilities; professional isolation; and limited supervision and training ( Agresta, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2012 ; Whittlesey-Jerome, 2012 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ).
Failure to address barriers to SSW practice can significantly impact the provision of effective SSW services due to increased job-related stress, job dissatisfaction, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout, absenteeism and attrition, which in turn can have a detrimental impact on the provision of effective SSW services addressing mental health and wellbeing needs of students, families and the school system ( Lloyd et al. , 2002 ; Agresta, 2006 ; Caselman and Brandt, 2017 ). Moreover, the existing research regarding the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice is substantially more deficit focused and provides limited understanding regarding how SSWs respond to these practice challenges, and how they facilitate effective SSW practice. The dearth of evidence regarding SSWs’ perspectives makes it challenging to assess the impact that these barriers may have on SSWs’ wellbeing and may hinder evidence-informed approaches to enhance practitioner wellbeing. Consequently, there is a growing evidence base emphasising that understanding how SSWs perceive the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice is essential to ensuring the continuity of care in the student-SSW relationships, contributing to the improvement of student, family and school outcomes ( Caselman and Brandt, 2017 ).
Despite the available evidence highlighting the importance of understanding the barriers and facilitators of SSW practice and the emergence of National SSW Practice Models in the USA ( Frey et al. , 2013 ) and Australia ( Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), 2011 ), there is a lack of synthesis of the existing literature examining the barriers and facilitators that influence the successful integration of these SSW practice standards in real-world settings and across international perspectives.
The present study addresses this significant shortcoming by synthesising the existing research to identify themes related to the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice that will allow us to understand how SSWs resolve these practice-based challenges, to enhance evidence-informed best practice for SSWs, better inform SW’s education and preparation to enter the field and strengthen the linkages between research and SW practice. Using a scoping review methodology, this study aims to answer the following research question: What evidence exists in the academic literature regarding the perceived barriers and facilitators to SW practice experienced by social workers (SWs) in schools in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa NZ, the UK and USA?
This review follows the Tricco et al. (2018) , the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) framework methodology. A scoping review was chosen as the appropriate method to synthesise the existing research regarding the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice to map the relevant literature and identify key concepts and knowledge gaps ( Arksey and O’Malley, 2005 ; Levac et al. , 2010 ; Munn et al. , 2018 ). This study uses the population, concept and context (PCC) approach outlined by Peters et al. (2015) .
The study focused on Social Workers working in school settings. For this scoping review, a Social Worker is defined as a graduate of a SW education program at the bachelor’s or master’s degree level or is eligible for accreditation with the SW governing body in their location of practice.
SSWs are trained mental health professionals who provide SW services in a school setting, with the primary goal of supporting a student’s learning potential and facilitates successful learning outcomes and full participation for students, in consultation with school staff, parents and communities ( AASW, 2011 ; National Association of Social Workers (NASW), 2012 ; Frey et al. 2013 ; Constable, 2016 ). While there are a variety of SSW models used internationally, SSW practice broadly encompasses: (1) Evidence-based educationally relevant behaviour and mental health services with students, families and school personnel; (2) Promoting school climate, culture and system change to foster academic achievement; (3) Facilitating access and coordination with school and community resources; and (4) Research, education and professional development ( AASW, 2011 ; NASW, 2012 ; Frey et al. , 2013 ). For this study, we defined barriers as impediments to the implementation of SSW practice and facilitators as enablers that enhance SSW practice interventions and efficacy ( Teasley et al. , 2010 ; IGI Global, 2023 ).
This study focused on SW practice in primary and secondary schools, which comprise of students in Grades: Kindergarten/Prep to 12. The study included all schools that fit this category, regardless of funding or religious affiliation. To ensure that the identified evidence is comparable and manageable in scope, the inclusion criteria were restricted to published studies of SSWs’ perspectives in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa NZ, the UK and USA. These countries were selected given the similarities in linguistics, governance structures, school systems, colonial histories and the historical development of the social work profession in response to industrialization, urbanization and social inequalities; while at the same time providing a meaningful comparative analysis that recognises the diversity of cultural, historical, political and socioeconomic factors. Given the contextual differences across the five countries, such as the existence or absence of SSW practice models, the variety of SSW roles and responsibilities, the availability of SSW-specific tertiary education, licencing, accreditation and professional representation and specific legislation and funding guiding SSW practice (e.g. No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) in the USA), this study has, where relevant, specified the context specific barriers and facilitators in the results section ( Slovak et al. , 2006 ; NASW, 2012 ).
This study focused on academic, peer-reviewed literature, written in English, between the years January 2000 to February 2022. We limited the search to post-2000 given societal and mental health service system changes that have increased focus on students’ social and emotional wellbeing to reflect the contemporary educational landscape. For full inclusion and exclusion criteria for this scoping review see Table 1 .
Inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Inclusion criteria . | Exclusion criteria . |
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: Social workers (SWs) providing services in school settings. : Social work (SW) services in school-settings provided by SWs : Australia, Canada, Aotearoa NZ, USA, UK, Schools (k/prep to 12). : English language; Date: 2000 to February 2022, Academic peer-reviewed literature and articles, Research chapters in edited books. | : SWs not providing services in schools or not during the school day. : Articles not regarding SWs’ perspectives, barriers or facilitators not experienced by the SWs, barriers that are not related to delivery of SW services in school-settings. : Optional education settings (post-secondary education, pre-school or kindergarten when not compulsory), field or professional education, School(s) of SW or SW Education. : Conceptual studies, grey literature, dissertations, non-research books, editorials |
Inclusion criteria . | Exclusion criteria . |
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: Social workers (SWs) providing services in school settings. : Social work (SW) services in school-settings provided by SWs : Australia, Canada, Aotearoa NZ, USA, UK, Schools (k/prep to 12). : English language; Date: 2000 to February 2022, Academic peer-reviewed literature and articles, Research chapters in edited books. | : SWs not providing services in schools or not during the school day. : Articles not regarding SWs’ perspectives, barriers or facilitators not experienced by the SWs, barriers that are not related to delivery of SW services in school-settings. : Optional education settings (post-secondary education, pre-school or kindergarten when not compulsory), field or professional education, School(s) of SW or SW Education. : Conceptual studies, grey literature, dissertations, non-research books, editorials |
The search strategy and databases were selected in consultation with an expert librarian and authors (SB, AP and LH). In February 2022, the lead author searched seven academic databases: PsycInfo (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO), ERIC (EBSCO), Medline (OVID), INFORMIT (‘A+ education’ and ‘humanities and social sciences’), ASSIA (ProQuest) and SocINDEX (EBSCO). These databases were chosen given their broad coverage of the SW and social care parameters and fields with the ability to focus results on those most relevant.
Title and abstract were searched in all databases. The following search terms were intentionally broad to capture the relevant literature given the multiple possible terms representing the perspectives of SSWs: ‘Social Work*’ AND (School* OR Education*) AND (Perception* or perceive* or attitude* or perspective* or view* or belie* or opinion* or impression* or experience* or encounter* or identif*). Where available, the search was expanded to subject headings. We included peer reviewed and research chapters in edited books to ensure we captured the depth and breadth of empirical evidence that matched the inclusion criteria. We did not include search terms related to ‘barrier’ or ‘facilitator’ to practice, given we found that this limit introduced bias into the search and excluded some results that would otherwise have been included.
All articles were screened by two independent reviewers to minimise potential reviewer bias. The lead author (SB) reviewed all 14,317 articles for title and abstract screening; and 285 for full-text review, while other authors (LH, AH, AB, LK) were second reviewers during both screening stages. During the title and abstract phase, a third reviewer (AP) resolved any conflicts. After the full-text review, a third reviewer (AP) resolved conflicts related to exclusion reasons (e.g. wrong concept or setting), any remaining conflicts were resolved by consensus.
The authors developed a data charting form specifying which variables to extract. Authors (SB, LH and AP) independently charted the data, discussed the results and updated the data charting form in an iterative process. Disagreements on data charting were resolved by consensus and discussion with other authors, if required. Results were reviewed by all authors. The research aim and question guided the data synthesis process, with relevant data being charted into the following categories: the study characteristics (e.g. authors, title, publication year, country, aims/purpose, population, sample size, methodology/methods, relevant outcomes/findings, relevant findings and recommendations (by study authors)). Data regarding the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice was charted based on whether or not the SSWs perceived it to be a barrier or facilitator to SSW practice. Key findings data was synthesised into common themes, guided by the research question, with a focus on the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice ( Hsieh and Shannon, 2005 ). Initially, the data were coded under broad themes of ‘barriers’ or ‘facilitators’ and were subsequently grouped into the themes following the conventional content analysis deductive approach, where all data were sorted into categories based on how the different codes were related and linked, and then, organised into meaningful clusters ( Hsieh and Shannon, 2005 ). See Supplementary Table S1 for an overview of data synthesised.
The final search results ( n = 25,865) from seven academic databases were exported into ENDNOTE (version X9) bibliographic software ( Clarivate Analytics, 2018 ) and duplicates ( n = 11,492) were removed ( Figure 1 ). Screening of articles ( n = 14,373) was conducted using COVIDENCE software ( Veritas Health Innovation, 2022 ). Following the title and abstract screening, 14,032 articles were excluded. 285 full-text articles were retrieved and screened, with 242 excluded. One full-text article could not be retrieved. Overall, 42 articles met the inclusion criteria.
PRISMA flow chart of article selection process.
Majority ( n = 36) of studies were from the USA, with the remaining six studies divided between Australia ( n = 2), New Zealand ( n = 2), Canada ( n = 1) and the UK (England and Wales) ( n = 1). There appears an increasing research interest in this area, with over 75% of studies published after 2010 ( n = 32); almost half were published after 2015 ( n = 19); and 23.8% published since 2020 ( n = 10).
For the included studies, a range of methodologies were employed: qualitative ( n = 16), quantitative ( n = 10) and mixed methods ( n = 16). Methods including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and document archival records analysis. Ten studies did not disaggregate, or only partially aggregated their data, preventing delineation of SSWs responses from other professionals ( Crepeau-Hobson et al. , 2005 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Smith-Millman et al. , 2019 ; Sweifach, 2019 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). Smith-Millman et al. (2019) noted SSWs perceived ‘barriers’ without defining further.
The analysis of available evidence identified five interrelated themes: (1) Inadequacy of service delivery infrastructure; (2) SSW role ambiguities and expectations; (3) SSWs’ competency, knowledge and support; (4) School climate and context and (5) Cultivating relationships and engagement.
SSWs reported that an adequate service delivery infrastructure, such as the availability of human and material resources, were essential requirements to meet student needs, and that a lack of such resources hampered their ability to do their job and increased their stress levels and job dissatisfaction ( Agresta, 2006 ). Of the 42 included papers, 81% ( n = 34) identified SSW practice barriers and facilitators related to an inadequacy of service delivery infrastructure. Out of these, 67% ( n = 28) reported on barriers only, no articles reported on facilitators only, and 14% ( n = 6) identified both barriers and facilitators to SSW practice. SSWs perceived restrictive funding requirements (e.g. limited school resources, scarcity of funding for SSW positions and SSW salaries) as a barrier to SSW service delivery, and some SSWs expressed concerns for the future of SSW practice and job security, particularly during economic hardship ( Crepeau-Hobson et al. , 2005 ; Raines, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Bronstein et al. , 2011 ; Lee, 2012 ; Whittlesey-Jerome, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Drew and Gonzalez, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ). SSWs reported that insufficient SSW staff levels impacted their ability to meet student needs, and resulted in unmanageable caseloads, unrealistic SSWs to student ratios, serving multiple schools and the inability to provide services in some areas ( Crepeau-Hobson et al. , 2005 ; Raines, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Bronstein et al. , 2011 ; Lee, 2012 ; Whittlesey-Jerome, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Drew and Gonzalez, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ).
Time and logistics were consistently mentioned as resource barriers to SSW practice when inadequate, but were seen as facilitators when SSWs were able to access appropriate and confidential work and meeting space, and were able to be informally present and visible in schools and in the community ( Blair, 2002 ; Crepeau-Hobson et al. , 2005 ; Teasley, 2005 ; Agresta, 2006 ; Mann, 2008 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Avant, 2014 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Drew and Gonzalez, 2021 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ).
The research evidence identified SSWs reported a lack of material resources, (e.g. specialised curricula or evidence-based practice (EBP) resources) to guide SSW practice; and that documentation and reporting requirements were barriers to SSW practice ( Agresta, 2006 ; Bates, 2006 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Garrett, 2012 ; Lee, 2012 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ). During the COVID-19 school shutdowns, SSWs reported barriers regarding insufficient access to internet, technology and school-based resources and associated software skills, knowledge and support ( Capp et al. , 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ). Only in three studies did SSWs identify resources that facilitated SSW practice, such as: electronic records system for data tracking; sharing information and resources; and during the COVID-19 school shutdowns, availability and access to tele-health curricula and activities ( Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ).
SSWs reported numerous challenges regarding the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the social worker role within the school setting. In thirty-five studies (83%), SSWs reported barriers and facilitators to SSW practice regarding SSW role ambiguities and expectations. Out of these, 45% ( n = 19) listed barriers only, <1% ( n = 4) reported facilitators only and 29% ( n = 10) covered both. SSWs reported barriers resulting from insufficient understanding of the SSW role; role ambiguities and conflicts; and an absence of respect or recognition for SSW perspectives and scope of practice ( Blair, 2002 ; Teasley, 2005 ; Raines, 2006 ; Reid, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Bronstein et al. , 2011 ; Lee, 2012 ; Whittlesey-Jerome, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Avant, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Webber, 2018 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Gherardi and Whittlesey-Jerome, 2019 ; Karikari et al. , 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Drew and Gonzalez, 2021 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ). SSWs identified roles dominated by reactionary working conditions; and crisis driven-work, that was overwhelmed by competing demands, expectations and interruptions ( Blair, 2002 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Lee, 2012 ; Avant, 2014 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Gherardi and Whittlesey-Jerome, 2019 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). SSWs reported insufficient professional autonomy and professional identity as barriers to practice and some SSWs identified challenges with maintaining boundaries during times of crises response and when providing services remotely during the pandemic ( Blair, 2002 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Webber, 2018 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). The environments that facilitated SSW practice consisted of low professional role discrepancy, appreciation of the SSW role and expertise, high professional autonomy, support for clinical interventions and special programs and empowered SSWs to balance the complexity of the role with making meaningful contributions ( Agresta, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ).
There was evidence that SSWs perceived tensions regarding EBP outcome measure reporting and EBP adaptation to school context; and SSWs noted the dearth of research and failure by SSWs to report practice outcomes negatively impacted cases and justification for the SSW role ( Bates, 2006 ; Raines, 2006 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ). Some SSWs identified successfully adapting EBP and utilizing data tracking to: improve measurement strategies and guide implementation decisions, which increased their ability to meet students’ needs, provide school-wide capacity and support, demonstrate program effectiveness, professional credibility and justified SSW funding ( Bates, 2006 ; Avant, 2014 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Webber, 2018 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ).
SSWs perceived barriers and facilitators regarding the competencies, knowledge, training and support that they require to effectively responding to the needs of students, families and the school community, while maintaining their own mental health and wellbeing ( Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Bronstein et al. , 2011 ). Twenty-eight studies (67%) examined SSWs’ competency, knowledge and support as barriers and facilitators to SSW practice. Of these, only 36% ( n = 15) reported barriers only, 14% ( n = 6) facilitators only and 17% ( n = 7) both. SSWs felt their SW skills, attitudes and compassion were facilitators to SSW practice ( Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ). Some SSWs identified that inadequate preparation, training or required skills and knowledge from their generalist SW education, specifically lacking school-specific practice knowledge, an understanding of relevant legislation, special education policies and practices, interdisciplinary teams and EBPs specific to SSW practice ( Bates, 2006 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Bronstein et al. , 2011 ; Lee, 2012 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ). SSWs who completed a school-based field placement, who had professors with practice experience, who felt knowledgeable about diversity issues and felt culturally competent, felt better prepared ( Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Beddoe, 2019 ). During COVID-19 school shutdowns, some SSWs were overwhelmed by student/family difficulties, felt unprepared and unsupported to deliver online services, unbalanced home/work boundaries and felt remote SSW services as a modality was ineffective or unfair ( Capp et al. , 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ).
There was evidence that SSWs perceived barriers resulted from insufficient professional development, training opportunities, support and guidance, which impacted SSW services ( Agresta, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Avant, 2014 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Avant and Swerdlik, 2016 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ). SSWs reported increased competence, knowledge and awareness when supported to attend or provided with training and professional development ( Teasley, 2005 ; Teasley et al. , 2008 , 2010 , 2012 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Peabody, 2014 ).
SSWs repeatedly mentioned the scarcity of professional support and/or clinical or SW supervision as barriers to SSW practice ( Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Webber, 2018 ; Sweifach, 2019 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ). SSWs reported consultation and support from SW supervisors and peers facilitated SSW practice; and SSWs also valued constructive consultation and relational support with non-SW administrators on non-counselling topics ( Chanmugam, 2009 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Sweifach, 2019 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ). Some SSWs noted that SSW association membership and SW licensure were facilitators to SSW practice ( Raines, 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2012 ).
SSWs reported adapting their SW practice to be successful working within a ‘host setting’ that is guided by educational policy and processes ( Beddoe, 2019 ). Almost half ( n = 19, 43%) of the included studies examined barriers and/or facilitators related to School climate and context. Of these, 38% reported barriers only ( n = 16), <1% ( n = 1) facilitators only and <1% ( n = 2) both. Some SSWs reported a fundamental conflict at times between student and organizational needs of the school, prompting the question ‘Who is the client?’ ( Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Webber, 2018 ). There was evidence that SSWs identified SW ethics and values as barriers pertaining to issues of confidentiality, privacy and best interest of the client; with school district policies (e.g. sexual health and religion) ( Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Webber, 2018 ; Daftary, 2022 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). SSWs reported barriers related to the school context and their location within the school landscape as a ‘guest’ in the ‘host setting’ and that school climate and internal dynamics shaped interprofessional relationships and collaboration and a schools’ response to issues (e.g. bullying) ( Testa, 2012 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Phillippo et al. , 2017 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). Some SSWs reported limited ability to meet with students during the school day given prioritisation of academics over student wellbeing ( Blair, 2002 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ). Some SSWs reported policy and bureaucracy barriers from district and administrative policies that were inflexible or inadequate in addressing the needs of vulnerable students ( Crepeau-Hobson et al. , 2005 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Lee, 2012 ; Oades, 2021 ). Some SSWs felt that having a system-wide united purpose and commitment, with rules and policies that supported SSW practice and addressed barriers to learning, facilitated SSW practice ( Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ).
SSWs perceived that cultivating effective relationships, through consultation and collaboration with students, families, staff and the community was an essential facilitator for effective SSW practice ( Beddoe, 2019 ; Daftary, 2022 ). Thirty-three (79%) of the included studies identified barriers and/or facilitators to SSW practice regarding cultivating relationships and engagement. Of these, 38% ( n = 16) listed barriers only, 14% ( n = 6) facilitators only and 26% ( n = 11) both. SSWs reported that power imbalances and dynamics with school administrators were barriers to SSW practice ( Chanmugam, 2009 ; Webber, 2018 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Karikari et al. , 2020 ). SSWs perceived a lack of agency and marginalization and that the relational dynamics influence a schools’ culture and norms, which in turn impacts SSW referrals and collaboration ( Chanmugam, 2009 ; Testa, 2012 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Karikari et al. , 2020 ).
SSWs noted that interprofessional relationships, consultation and collaboration were barriers to SSW practice due to staff attitudes and expectations and disrespect for SSWs’ perspectives ( Blair, 2002 ; Teasley, 2005 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Mann, 2008 ; Teasley et al. , 2008 ; Lee, 2012 ; Testa, 2012 ; Whittlesey-Jerome, 2012 ; Avant, 2014 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Gherardi and Whittlesey-Jerome, 2019 ; Elswick and Cuellar, 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). Some SSWs experienced barriers resulting from inaccessible support or idiosyncratic relationships between multidisciplinary staff (e.g. school psychologists, school counsellors) ( Reid, 2006 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Webber, 2018 ).
SSWs noted the importance of utilising relationship-based strategies in response to challenging relational and power dynamics, that strong and positive system-wide relationships with open-communication and consultation facilitated SSW practice ( Teasley, 2005 ; Mann, 2008 ; Chanmugam, 2009 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Avant, 2014 ; Peabody, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Avant and Lindsey, 2016 ; Beddoe, 2019 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ).
Some SSWs were concerned with their ability to engage and cultivate relationships with students, families and the community. SSWs identified barriers associated with a lack of student and family engagement ( Teasley, 2005 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2008 , 2010 , 2012 ; Lee, 2012 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Johnson and Barsky, 2020 ; Capp et al. , 2021 ; Kelly et al. , 2021 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). Some SSWs found barriers to community engagement due to the accessibility of community supports/services, community misperceptions of SSW role, strained school relationships and community and environmental risk factors ( Teasley, 2005 ; Reid, 2006 ; Sawyer et al. , 2006 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Lee, 2012 ; Peckover et al. , 2013 ; Rueda et al. , 2014 ; Goodcase et al. , 2022 ). There was evidence that SSWs perceived that positive formal and informal relationship building and collaboration and availability of community resources and referrals facilitated SSW practice ( Teasley, 2005 ; Mann, 2008 ; Teasley et al. , 2010 ; Quinn-Lee, 2014 ; Heberle et al. , 2021 ; Oades, 2021 ; Daftary, 2022 ).
By examining and synthesizing the barriers and the facilitators to SSW practice, this study demonstrates the challenges that SSWs experience and highlights the facilitators that support effective SSW practice. This review found that barriers to SSW practice were reported in greater detail than facilitators and a dearth regarding facilitators that were considered under the themes: Inadequacy of service delivery infrastructure, SSW role ambiguities and expectations, SSWs’ competency, knowledge and support and School climate and context. There was evidence that SSWs perceived that the barriers related to SSW role expectations and ambiguities, resulted in unrealistic workloads and significantly impacted SSWs’ ability to provide effective services. These findings support existing evidence that these barriers impact SSWs job satisfaction and intent to stay, and can result in burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, absenteeism and attrition, which impacts SSW practice effectiveness and negatively impacts student and family outcomes in schools ( Agresta, 2006 ; Caselman and Brandt, 2017 ). However, it is important to note that only a few included studies specifically referenced burnout in their results, with little to no discussion of their implications. With so little research regarding the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice related to compassion fatigue and burnout, this scoping review has identified a potentially important area for future research.
This study demonstrates the importance for SSW practice of cultivating effective interprofessional relationships and collaboration amongst school staff, students, families and the community to improve student and school outcomes. SSWs perceived that the barriers to establishing strong interprofessional relationships were related to significant SSW staff turnover, insufficient funding and time, schedule conflicts, high caseloads and servicing multiple schools ( Bronstein et al. , 2011 ; Lee, 2012 ; Miller et al. , 2015 ; Drew and Gonzalez, 2021 ). These findings highlight the need to mitigate these barriers to ensure effective interprofessional relationships and collaboration and facilitate effective SSW practice to help students thrive.
An interesting finding is that SSWs in Daftary (2022) reported increased time, during COVID-19 school shutdowns, for planning and preventative work due to the absence of school crises and interruptions, which increased accessibility to students due to minimised interruptions and improved SSWs’ ability to better meet the needs of students and their families. However, there is little research identifying which facilitators support SSWs to overcome the barriers that prevent them from effective engagement, consultation and collaboration; and what facilitates their ability to respond to challenges, such as role conflicts, competing demands, unrealistic workloads and crisis-driven, reactive environments. Future research is warranted to explore whether the facilitators that were effective in supporting SSW practice during the COVID-19 school shutdowns have continued with the return to in-person learning, which may inform school leaders and SSW practitioners to develop practices that integrate these facilitators into ongoing SSW services and may provide important contextual information for SW educators to include in their preparation of new SSW graduates. It is also notable that the impact of natural disasters was not discussed in any of the included studies and provides an opportunity for future research contributions in this area.
This study highlighted the importance of school-context specific training, education and support as a facilitator to SSW practice, which can inform policy makers, school leaders and SW educators to better support SSWs so that they have the competencies and knowledge required to enhance student’s educational and wellbeing outcomes. Furthermore, the absence of any discussion in the included studies regarding the specialist SSW education programs available in the USA is interesting. Given the findings from this study highlight the importance of supervision and SW consultation in facilitating SSW practice, school leaders and SSWs must ensure that appropriate supervision and supports are available to ensure that SSWs are supported to effectively respond to the diverse needs of students and their families. However, given the paucity of information in the included articles regarding how SSWs navigate the barriers to accessing supervision and support, further understanding regarding the perspectives of how SSWs engaged creatively to overcome these barriers is warranted. Furthermore, little attention to the role of membership of an SSW specific association or SW licensure as facilitators to SSW practice indicates that further research into their role as a barrier and/or facilitator to SSW practice is warranted.
This review also highlighted the disconnect between the SW professional ethics/values and their experiences in practice within school settings. The lack of attention given to SSWs’ perspectives regarding their engagement with the SSW practice standards (where available) or SW Codes of Ethics to align their day-to-day practice, support their professional autonomy, decrease role discrepancy, resolve ethical dilemmas and support their interprofessional relationships, is an interesting finding in itself. This is important given that SSW practice standards and code of ethics provide a framework for effective SSW practice based on SW values and principals and are an important tool in legitimising the SSW profession ( Altshuler and Webb, 2009 ; AASW, 2011 ).
The scoping review as a methodology mapped the existing academic literature, and as a result, the quality of the evidence included was not assessed. Limiting the context to empirical evidence from USA, UK, Australia, Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand and excluding grey literature and non-English language articles, faces the risk of excluding a greater international perspective of SSWs. By including articles that aggregated responses from interprofessional staff, which prevented delineation of SSWs responses from other professionals, the findings may not purely reflect SSWs perspectives. However, the inclusion of these studies was preferred considering the risk of omitting important evidence arising from reducing the number of included articles to only those that solely focused on SSWs in the study sample. While this scoping review compared five countries that have similar structures of education, political institutions and colonial histories, this study does not take into consideration all contextual differences that exist within each country. It was also beyond the scope of this study to focus specifically on specialised SSW programming or on barriers and facilitators regarding SW practice with specialised populations. These limitations highlight important areas for further consideration.
This scoping review examined the existing academic SW literature regarding the barriers and facilitators to SSW practice. The five main themes are an extensive summary of the factors that inhibit or enable SSWs to provide effective services to meet the diverse needs to students, families and the school community. With so little evidence regarding the facilitators to SSW practice, specifically regarding how SSWs operationalise practice-based strategies and skills to overcome barriers to SSW practice, this scoping review has identified an important area for further research, particularly in countries where research is emerging. This article furthers the understanding of the barriers to effective SSW practice, which provides important contextual information to inform the development of policies and practices that social workers, school leaders, SW educators and policy makers can take into consideration to effectively facilitate SSW practice and enhance students’ wellbeing and ability to thrive in school.
This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Conflict of interest statement. None declared.
Supplementary material is available at British Journal of Social Work Journal online.
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Disseminating findings takes planning and careful consideration of your audiences. The dissemination process includes determining the who, where, and how of reaching your audiences. Plagiarism is among the most egregious academic transgressions a scholar can commit. In formal presentations, include your research question, methodological ...
Rule 6: Go live. In-person dissemination does not just have to be at stuffy conferences. With research moving beyond the walls of universities, there are several types of places for more participatory events. Next to classic scientific conferences, different types of events addressing wider audiences have emerged.
Describes an integrated dissemination model for social work and provides an example to illustrate its practical application (OutPatient Treatment In ONtario Services -OPTIONS project) Argues that diffusion of innovations and social marketing address the important question of how to put the products of research where they will do the most good ...
Background. In recent years, social scientists have sought to understand how research may influence policy [1, 2].Interest in this area of investigation has grown with the increased availability of funding for policy-specific research (e.g., dissemination and implementation research) [].However, because of variation in the content of public policy, this emerging area of scholarship lacks a ...
Dissemination refers to "a planned process that involves consideration of target audiences and the settings in which research findings are to be received and, where appropriate, communicating and interacting with wider policy and…service audiences in ways that will facilitate research uptake in decision-making processes and practice" (Wilson, Petticrew, Calnan, & Natareth, 2010, p. 91).
Chapter Outline. Ethical responsibility and cultural respectfulness (8 minute read); Critical considerations (5 minute read); Informing your dissemination plan (11 minute read); Final product taking shape (10 minute read); Content warning: Examples in this chapter contain references to research as a potential tool to stigmatize or oppress vulnerable groups, mistreatment and inequalities ...
Fidelity measures are often specific to a particular intervention. Social-work research has emphasized the implementation outcome of provider attitudes toward evidence-based interventions or the acceptability of evidence-based service. Aarons' Evidence-Based Practice Attitudes scale is a widely used, standardized measure for this construct ...
We designed our book to help graduate social work students through every step of the research process, from conceptualization to dissemination. Our textbook centers cultural humility, information literacy, pragmatism, and an equal emphasis on quantitative and qualitative methods. It includes extensive content on literature reviews, cultural bias and respectfulness, and qualitative methods, in ...
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Rule 3: Encourage participation. In the age of open research, don't just broadcast. Invite and engage others to foster participa-tion and collaboration with research audiences. Scholarship is a collective endeavour, and so we should not expect its dissemination to be unidirectional, especially not in the digital age.
The Center is the only endowed research organization focused solely on the development and dissemination of social work practice knowledge. Its endowment of approximately $3,000,000 is supplemented by gifts and grants from public and voluntary sources.
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Second, studies of practice research in social work remain scant in Asia and Singapore Webber 2020 Ho et al. 2023;Teo, Koh, and Kwan 2023), with limited insights into organisational contexts ...
Social Work Research Methods is a stand alone "how-to" social research text that covers conceptualization, design, implementation, data management, and statistical analysis with comprehensively detailed examples. ... SPSS and NVIVO), analyses, implementation and dissemination. It is also written in a tone that is intentionally light-hearted to ...
Sobočan, A. M. (2010). Ethics in/after social work research: Deliberation on the meaning of knowledge dissemination in social work research. In D. Zaviršek, B. Rommelspacher, & S. Staub (Eds.), Ethical dilemmas in social work: International perspective (pp. 169-187). Ljubljana: Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana.
Background Research has the potential to influence US social policy; however, existing research in this area lacks a coherent message. The Model for Dissemination of Research provides a framework through which to synthesize lessons learned from research to date on the process of translating research to US policymakers. Methods The peer-reviewed and grey literature was systematically reviewed ...
They allow social workers to contribute their unique knowledge of social systems across interdisciplinary contexts and contribute to conversations about social. This article explores the development of PCNs as a tool for social work researchers, practitioners, and students.
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Rule 3: Encourage participation. In the age of open research, don't just broadcast. Invite and engage others to foster participation and collaboration with research audiences. Scholarship is a collective endeavour, and so we should not expect its dissemination to be unidirectional, especially not in the digital age.
Three fundamental aspects make our online DSW program unique: Utilizes implementation science to translate research into best practice interventions and identify strategies to address barriers to effective service delivery and program uptake. This is applicable at all levels of social work practice, and in both clinical and non-clinical settings.
Social workers indicate that they should be much more concerned with their self-critical role. Their own actions as social workers should also be scrutinised in some form of 'self-politicisation'. Conclusion. Our qualitative research on how social work acts when aiming to realise human rights reveals five building blocks.
This scoping review found that social workers perceive far greater barriers than facilitators when delivering services in school settings, with limited evidence related to the facilitators that enhance School Social Work (SSW) practice. Further research regarding the facilitators of SSW practice is needed, specifically in countries where ...
Research on Social Work Practice 2009 19: 503 originally published online 5 June 2009 James W. Dearing ... Research about dissemination is a response to a gen-eral acknowledgment that successful, effective prac-tices, programs, and policies resulting from clinical