NIHR KMbF: my first 6 months

When I accepted an NIHR Knowledge Moblisation Fellowship I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into.  3 years (0.7WTE) to undertake a knowledge mobilisation research and implementation project seemed daunting.  I felt I’d been given permission to sail to America based on my picture of a boat – and I wasn’t sure I had any boat building skills!

But these first 6 months have been fascinating.  For the whole picture story click CathyHoweThefirst6months.

I have found a level of freedom to explore and learn that has been refreshing and rewarding.  I have a natural thirst for knowledge and I’m indulging this through the literature, shadowing people and attending conferences.  These have led to new ideas, conversations and connections including one with a software developer.  We hope to create an interactive game format to make learning about evidence-based healthcare improvement altogether more fun.

I’ve begun my organisational research project studying organisational systems and networks for knowledge mobilisation.  Extensive reading about social network analysis, knowledge mobilisation (transfer/exchange/translation/management etc) and soft systems methodology has enabled me to develop a new knowledge base.  I can’t wait for the results of my first social network analysis survey as I start to build a picture of how my partner organisations fit together and interact with each other and the evidence base.  The time it’s taking helps to reinforce the reasons healthcare managers don’t routinely engage with the evidence base for their work!

I’ve had one first author paper published (Is Quality Improvement in Healthcare Mustard or Ketchup? JHSRP) and a second (Using Assessment to Support Generative Learning in a QI Collaborative BJHCM) is in peer review.  Another multi-author paper has been published and 3 others have been submitted.  7 out of 10 abstracts have been accepted at conferences, and I’ve given oral presentations at the Canadian Knowledge Mobilisation Forum and the Health Services Research Network Symposium.

Four papers nearing final draft distil key CLAHRC NWL learning about implementing evidence into practice.  The oral presentations on the ‘Conceptual Framework for Improving Healthcare’ and ‘QI tools Contribution to Healthcare Improvement’ and the poster on ‘Assessing Engagement with Quality Improvement Methods’ reflect part of this work.  All of these have drawn considerable interest and I’ve yet to find anyone who can tell me that the CLAHRC NWL ‘values’ are not relevant to their setting.  The QI tools slideshare has been tweeted 7 times and viewed over 320 times.  Two of these will be first author publications.  I’m currently using this learning to develop a practical training course to support the development of capacity and capability for evidence-based healthcare improvement in middle managers.

I’ve entered the world of mobilising knowledge through social networks.  My blog (www.cathyhowe.net) and twitter account (@cathgreenhalgh) have both proved new but rewarding challenges; working out what to say, how to say it, how often to say it, and when to still those twitching fingers.  I have over 536 website hits and 123 twitter followers including Trish Greenhalgh, Jo Rycroft-Malone, Ruth Boaden, Helen Bevan, Sarah Fraser and Derek Bell in the UK, and Knowledge Mobilization Works in Canada, Ko Awatea in New Zealand and Healthcare Improvement Scotland.  I’ve extended my national and international networks, building relationships with people in health and other industries who share my passion for making evidence-based change efficient, effective and sustainable.

And then there’s Norman.  He’s my new cartoon character ‘Norman the Novice’.  He’s just a got his first job as a knowledge broker.  He’s hugely enthusiastic, but he’s not really very good at it…  Cartoons are a fun way to mobilise knowledge.  He’s on page 32 via the link above.

My picture story contains all this and more.  I’m learning new skills, discovering new interests, revealing new strengths and generally having a blast.  There have been highs and lows of course.  Balancing the duties and responsibilities of two jobs is never straightforward, and the necessary overlap of my CLAHRC NWL work and my fellowship complicates this further.  Having the CLAHRC NWL team around me for support, knowledge and advice has been invaluable.

Bring on the next 6 months I say; I’m not rushing back into full time NHS management just yet!