Knowledge acquisition and research evidence in autism:researcher and practitioner perspectives and engagement

Abstract

Background: Government policy and national practice guidelines have created an increasing need for autism services to adopt an evidence-based practice approach. However, a gap continues to exist between research evidence and its application. This study investigated the difference between autism researchers and practitioners in their methods of acquiring knowledge. Methods: In a questionnaire study, 261 practitioners and 422 researchers reported on the methods they use and perceive to be beneficial for increasing research access and knowledge. They also reported on their level of engagement with members of the other professional community. Results: Researchers and practitioners reported different methods used to access information. Each group, however, had similar overall priorities regarding access to research information. While researchers endorsed the use of academic journals significantly more often than practitioners, both groups included academic journals in their top three choices. The groups differed in the levels of engagement they reported; researchers indicated they were more engaged with practitioners than vice versa. Conclusions: Comparison of researcher and practitioner preferences led to several recommendations to improve knowledge sharing and translation, including enhancing access to original research publications, facilitating informal networking opportunities and the development of proposals for the inclusion of practitioners throughout the research process.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.01.011
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences
Additional Information: © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funding: ESRC (RES-189-25-0275 and ES/J02080X/1; and Welsh Government (2012–2014).
Publication ISSN: 1873-3379
Last Modified: 12 Feb 2024 08:08
Date Deposited: 12 Jul 2016 12:05
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2016-04
Published Online Date: 2016-01-28
Accepted Date: 2016-01-17
Submitted Date: 2015-07-16
Authors: Carrington, Sarah J. (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-5548-8793)
Uljarević, Mirko
Roberts, Alessandra
White, Louise J.
Morgan, Lynda
Wimpory, Dawn
Ramsden, Christopher
Leekam, Susan R.

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License: Creative Commons Attribution


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