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Canada Research Chair in Shared Decision Making and Knowledge Translation
Publication

Jean-Sébastien publishes an article on collaboration between biomedical research and community-based primary health care actors in chronic disease management


Collaboration between biomedical research and community-based primary health care actors is essential to translate evidence into clinical practice. However, little is known about the characteristics and impacts of implementing collaborative models. Thus, the authors sought to identify and describe collaboration models that bridge biomedical research and community-based primary health care in chronic disease management.
The authors conducted a scoping review using Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from inception to November 2020, to identify studies describing or evaluating collaboration models. They also searched grey literature, screened reference lists, and contacted experts to retrieve further relevant references. The list of studies was then refined using more specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted relevant data (characteristics of studies, participants, collaborations, and outcomes). No bias assessment was performed. A panel of experts in the field was consulted to interpret the data. Results were presented with descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis.
Thirteen studies presenting 20 unique collaboration models were included. These studies were conducted in North America (n = 7), Europe (n = 5) and Asia (n = 1). Collaborations were implemented between 1967 and 2014. They involved a variety of profiles including biomedical researchers (n = 20); community-based primary health care actors (n = 20); clinical researchers (n = 15); medical specialists (n = 6); and patients, citizens, or users (n = 5). The main clinical focus was cardiovascular disease (n = 8). Almost half of the collaborations operated at an international level (n = 9) and the majority adopted either a network (n = 7) or hierarchical structure (n = 6). The authors identified significant implementation barriers (lack of knowledge, financial support, and robust management structure) and collaboration facilitators (partnership, cooperation, multidisciplinary research teams). Out of the 20 included collaboration models, seven reported measurable impact.
The authors identified a large variety of collaboration models representing several clinical and research profiles and fields of expertise. As they are all based in high-income countries, further research should aim to identify collaborations in low-income countries, to determine which models and/or characteristics, could better translate evidence into clinical practice in these contexts.

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By Carole Thiébaut, 20/05/2022