Supporting knowledge translation through collaborative translational research initiatives: ‘Bridging’ versus ‘blurring’ boundary-spanning approaches in the UK CLAHRC initiative

Sarah Evans and Harry Scarbrough

Social Science & Medicine, 2014, vol. 106, issue C, 119-127

Abstract: Recent policy initiatives in the UK and internationally have sought to promote knowledge translation between the ‘producers’ and ‘users’ of research. Within this paper we explore how boundary-spanning interventions used within such initiatives can support knowledge translation between diverse groups. Using qualitative data from a 3-year research study conducted from January 2010 to December 2012 of two case-sites drawn from the CLAHRC initiative in the UK, we distinguish two different approaches to supporting knowledge translation; a ‘bridging’ approach that involves designated roles, discrete events and activities to span the boundaries between communities, and a ‘blurring’ approach that de-emphasises the boundaries between groups, enabling a more continuous process of knowledge translation as part of day-to-day work-practices. In this paper, we identify and differentiate these boundary-spanning approaches and describe how they emerged from the context defined by the wider CLAHRC networks. This highlights the need to develop a more contextualised analysis of the boundary-spanning that underpins knowledge translation processes, relating this to the distinctive features of a particular case.

Keywords: Knowledge translation; Boundary-spanning; Professional boundaries; Collaboration; Translational research initiatives; Healthcare management; CLAHRCs; UK (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.025

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