Can we P4 Healthcare? Learnings from a multi-site knowledge translation project for children with cerebral palsy

Purpose. This presentation will provide an overview of the key learnings from a multi-site, knowledge translation, partnership project that aimed to embed routine assessment behaviours into practice for children with cerebral palsy with the goal of preventing or reducing secondary impairments through surveillance. The study used a mixed-methods before and after longitudinal design and involved five disability organisations in South East Australia over a two-year period.
Presentation format. Four short presentations will cover: (i) study design and objectives including a description of the multi-strategy approach to knowledge translation; (ii) summary of key findings about longitudinal changes in knowledge and behavior of the participating therapists; (iii) summary of key findings about longitudinal changes in perceptions of supports and barriers to implementation; and (iv) emergent frameworks that can support knowledge translation in paediatric practice.
Key learnings. Providing a structured, tailored, multi-strategy approach to embedding evidence based assessment can change health professional behaviours. Health professionals initially focused on pragmatic routine assessment implementation issues. Over time, therapists reflected more on the complexities of children and families’ engagement with routine assessment and the impact on the therapist-child-family relationship, effectively seeking a more participatory and personalised approach to clinical surveillance. Organisational and health professional readiness for change should be considered in the selection and implementation of tailored knowledge translation strategies.