Table 1 List and details of papers included in this review

19

Barwick, M.A., Peters, J.,

& Boydell, K

Getting to uptake: Do communities of practice support the implementation of evidence-based practice?

Canada

To explore clinician practice, practice knowledge (of a new tool), and use of and satisfaction with implementation supports among clinicians participating in community of practice sessions versus clinicians engaging in usual practice

Primary outcome—practice change as measured by clinician self-report and use of the CAFAS tool in practice

Randomised Control Trial

Readiness for change, practice change, content knowledge, and satisfaction with and use of implementation supports were examined

Likert scale assessments at baseline, midpoint and end-point

Independent t-tests, two way repeated measures ANOVA

Clinicians from 6 consenting organizations were

randomly assigned, clustered by organization, to

either the CoP

(n = 17 from 3 organizations) or

PaU (n = 17 from 3 organizations) support conditions

Children’s mental health practitioners working in service provider organizations newly mandated to use the CAFAS outcome tool

No difference in readiness for change or reported practice change

CoP participants demonstrated

greater use of the tool in practice, better content knowledge and were more satisfied with implementation supports than PaU group

42% attrition rate Mostly female 66% of CoP 4 + sessions

20

Tagliaventi, M. R., & Mattarelli, E

The role of networks of practice, value sharing, and operational proximity in knowledge flows between professional groups

Italy

To formulate a grounded theory that is concerned with the factors that promote exchanges of knowledge between groups of professionals belonging to different networks of practice

Ethnographic study—grounded theory

Observations mane for 21 weeks, five days a week, and 18 h per week on average. We observed each of the rooms three hours per week on average, for a total of 364 h

Radiation oncology unit of a major hospital in northern Italy

Doctors, radiotherapy technicians, medical physicists, and nurses

Both performing daily activities side-by-side and holding common values regarding the unit trigger the sharing of practices among professional groups that participate in different networks of practice

21

McDonald, P.W., & Viehbeck, S

From evidence-based practice making to practice-based evidence making: Creating communities of (research) and practice

Canada/

United States

Describes the CoP approach for enhancing exchange between researchers and practitioners

Introduce the concept of Communities of Practice (CoPs) as a means of bridging the solitudes and overcoming limitations associated with current views of research translation

Three primary strategies

(a) systematically recruiting researchers, program providers, and students interested in tobacco control;

(b) creating a series of productivity tools; and

(c) building social capital by creating smaller, focused CoPs (teams) on specific tobacco control practices or policy issues

Came together on a common practice and then developed mutual goals and priorities through negotiation. Regular Web-based seminars, teleconferences, and occasional face-to-face meetings

North American Quitline Consortium

Researchers and program providers from across Canada and the United States who collectively focus on developing and sharing evidence to improve telephone-based counselling for smoking cessation

Annual symposium attendance up by 220%

Rapid infusion of students and scientists

Renewed commitment by experienced researchers to work more closely with one another

Eight new multidisciplinary teams received seed grants to work on problems of mutual priority

Dozens receiving and contributing to various communication vehicles

The number of data sets being placed in the data repository is accelerating

22

Bate, S. P., & Robert, G

Knowledge management and communities of practice in the private sector: Lessons for modernising the National Health Service in England and Wales

United Kingdom

Examines how private sector knowledge management concepts and practices might help in the further development of public sector quality improvement initiatives

Examines NHS collaborative outcomes and an exploration of contemporary private sector practices with regard to knowledge management and communities of practice

NHS England and Wales

April 2000 to January 2002—the Cancer Services, Mental Health and Orthopaedic Services Collaboratives

Four areas for development suggested

Information > knowledge

Knowledge application > knowledge generation

Explicit > tacit

Contrived network > CoP

23

Kislov, R.,

Harvey, G., & Walshe, K

Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care: Lessons from the theory of communities of practice

United Kingdom

Discusses seminal theoretical literature on CoPs and previous empirical research on the role of these communities in healthcare collaboration

Combines the analytical and instrumental perspectives on communities of practice (CoPs) to reflect on potential challenges that may arise in the process of interprofessional and inter-organisational joint working

Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care

N/A

May be beneficial but further research needed

24

Thomson, L., Schneider, J., & Wright, N

Developing communities of practice to support the implementation of research into clinical practice

United Kingdom

To review the role of social networks in the translation of research into practice, propose a broader model of communities of practice (CoPs)

Presents an approach to supporting and developing CoPs around the specific context of an applied research programme in health and social care

Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care—Nottingham, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire, England

involves practitioners, researchers, and service users

May be beneficial but further research needed