Craik: Involve the End Users at the Beginning of Process

By Purnell T. Cropper | January 12, 2010

Dr. Rebecca Craik, Professor and Chair of Physical Therapy, made a presentation titled “Are You Ready?” at the American Physical Therapy Association Research Conference on Vitalizing Practice Through Research and Research Through Practice, held Dec. 2-4, in Philadelphia. Her presentation dealt with creating a culture of collaboration between the “research community” and the “clinical community.” Rather than the traditional pipeline from research to practice, she suggests a “framework that begins with social determinants and context influencing community health—the end users are involved at the beginning of the process. Dissemination is more than “giving the end user research results.” The product must meet the needs of the end user. Multiple stakeholders must be involved in generating the question, determining answer, and implementing the change.” Read more.