Changing the behavior of healthcare professionals: the use of theory in promoting the uptake of research findings

Abstract

Objective: The uptake of research findings into routine health care is a haphazard and unpredictable process. The usefulness of the results of implementation studies is limited, due in part to the lack of an underlying framework of the important dimensions of research studies in this area and the healthcare settings within which they are conducted and may subsequently be used.

Study design and setting: We explore the role for a theory-based framework and suggest some of the methods that would be needed to operationalize the framework in the context of designing and conducting interventions aimed at improving the use of research findings by individual healthcare professionals or teams.

Conclusions: This research offers a framework for those who would seek to use the results of such studies in routine healthcare settings.