The 5th Annual One Mind Summit: Lessons Learned About "Science Informing Brain Health Policies and Practice"

Abstract

Advances in science frequently precede changes in clinical care by several years or even decades. To better understand the path to translation, we invited experts to share their perspectives at the 5th Annual One Mind Summit: "Science Informing Brain Health Policies and Practice," which was held on May 24-25, 2016, in Crystal City, VA. While the translation of brain research throughout the pipeline-from basic science research to patient care-was discussed, the focus was on the implementation of "best evidence" into patient care. The Summit identified key steps, including the need for professional endorsement and clinical guidelines or policies, acceptance by regulators and payers, dissemination and training for clinicians, patient advocacy, and learning healthcare models. The path to implementation was discussed broadly, as well as in the context of a specific project to implement concussion screening in emergency and urgent care centers throughout the United States.

Keywords: T2 translation; clinical guidelines; concussion screening; implementation science.

FIG. 1.

Translating a hypothesis or research question into patient care involves multiple steps, some of which are clustered into phases called T1 and T2. The T1 phase has been referred to as “bench to bedside” and includes the translation of discoveries from preclinical research and smaller human studies into evidence of effectiveness in large-scale clinical trials. The T2 phase, referred to as “bedside to practice” includes research to promote widespread acceptance and implementation of validated diagnostics and effective treatments. T2 research may also include learning health care models and pragmatic clinical trials that incorporate feedback mechanisms to evaluate the patients' responses to treatment, and adapt treatments as needed on an on-going basis. In addition to T1 and T2 research, other key stakeholders and steps may be needed to achieve widespread adoption into clinical care.