Archived Webcast Available:
Offering Tailored Technical Assistance
as a Knowledge Translation Strategy
Ryan Williams, PhD, Research Director for the Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research, presents findings from a study testing a knowledge translation strategy among a business-oriented audience. Joe Bontke, Outreach Manager and Ombudsman for the Houston District office of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also joins Dr. Williams for a lively discussion about the implications of these research findings.
This has been pre-approved for 1 CRC-CEU through 8-29-17. You must complete an evaluation to request your Verification of Completion form.
View the Archive: kter.org/resources/TAasKT
Thank You to our Partners at
Virginia Commonwealth University
During the last 6 years, the KTER Center has worked closely with our partners at Virginia Commonwealth University. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Paul Wehman, Katherine Inge, Michael West, Carolyn Graham, Valerie Brooke, Steve West, Grant Revell, Teri Blankenship, Doug Erickson, Jeanne Roberts, and all other VCU staff that supported the KTER Center activities during its previous award cycle and no-cost extension year. Your insights, hard work, good cheer and dedication to our shared mission have been invaluable.
Listed below are some of the chief KTER Center deliverables that VCU staff led. We are also sharing with you in this issue a report Drs. Inge and Graham wrote, summarizing a set of follow-up interviews conducted with vocational rehabilitation counselors who participated in the KT study of online modules as a knowledge translation strategy.
Graham, C., Inge, K., Wehman, P., Murphy, K., Revell, G. & West, M. (2013). Moving employment research into practice: Knowledge and application of evidence-based practices by state vocational rehabilitation agency staff. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 39(1), 75-81.
Graham, C. W., West, M. D., Bourdon, J. L., Inge, K. J., & Seward, H. (2016). Employment Interventions for Return to Work in Working Aged Adults Following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A Systematic Review. The Campbell Collaboration. Available from: campbellcollaboration.org/library/employment-interventions-for-return-to-work-in-working-aged-adults-following-traumatic-brain-injury.html
Inge, K. J., Graham, C. W., Erickson, D., Sima, A., West, M., & Cimera, R. E. (2016). Improving the employment outcomes of individuals with traumatic brain injury: The effectiveness of knowledge translation strategies to impact the use of evidence-based practices by vocational rehabilitation counselors. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 45,107-115. DOI:10.3233/JVR-160815.
Inge, K., Graham, C., McLaughlin, J. & Wehman, P. (In press). Evaluating the effectiveness of Facebook to Impact the use of evidence-based employment practices by individuals with traumatic brain injury: A knowledge translation random control study. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation.
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Subjective
Experience of Knowledge Translation Interventions
By Carolyn Graham and Katherine Inge
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University, in partnership with the Center on Knowledge Translation on Employment Research (KTER Center), conducted a study with vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors to compare the effects of two knowledge translation (KT) strategies on the knowledge and future actions of VR counselors when supporting individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups received the same information on supported employment for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a three-month period in fall 2013. One group received the information via prerecorded video presentations that were posted on an unlisted YouTube channel. The second group received identical information via three briefs. Knowledge increased for both groups from baseline to post intervention although no significant group differences between the two interventions were found. There were changes in perceptions of funding employment activities, barriers to employment, and number of Status 26 closures, which is the term VR uses for cases that have been successfully closed in employment (Inge et al., 2016).
As a study follow-up, during summer 2016, VCU research staff members asked participants whether they would be interviewed to discuss the effectiveness of the two KT strategies. Only four participants agreed to participate. One was from the prerecorded YouTube group, and three were from the brief (control) group. One of the three in the control group confused the KT study with the free online ethics course given as an incentive to participate. This participant’s responses were used when it was clear that he was referring to the KT study.
The four participants reported that the KT strategy that they received was effective. The one from the YouTube group said it was “very effective.” The participants in the brief group stated that they were “excellent flyers” to “wonderful.” One of the brief group participants said that she liked the strategy because she “made copies of the briefs and shared [with] coworkers” after reading them. She also said,
I like things written down so I can refer back to it when needed. I use it to work with consumers. I filed the briefs so I was able to look up the information when I am working with a consumer with brain injury and I also share it with others.
The participant in the YouTube group mentioned that he “liked the separate sessions so that we could look and think about it and look the information up and compare and so on.” Another participant who was interviewed focused on the content of the material and not as much on the KT strategy; the individual was in the brief group. This participant said that the evidence-based research was a good reminder of the variability of injuries for people with TBI.
It caused me to think about service delivery in a different way. It was a good reminder that often when working with someone with a head injury you cannot proceed in the same manner as others. Instead we must use different procedures.
The one YouTube participant also mentioned the content was applicable because she “had an onslaught of students with TBI” and that the evidence-based research had been helpful.
When asked whether they had suggestions for improving the KT strategy, the two brief group participants believed that case studies would be helpful. One of these participants made the following comment.
One suggestion–use case studies. I don’t how you would do it or how to do it, but when I was working on my postgrad certificate, VCU had these British videos of case studies that were extremely helpful. These were so helpful that I remember them to this day.
The other brief group participant also commented that receiving evidenced-based research more frequently would be helpful and keep counselors from using the same strategy with everyone.
It is helpful to provide evidence-based research more often and revisit these topics, because we are so busy that we just use the same strategies with every client instead of tailoring it to each person. Providing strategies that have been effective for others is helpful for us so we can try different strategies.
The one YouTube participant said that he liked the pace of the presentations but preferred the traditional way he receives continuing education in Blackboard. He further stated it was his preference to have an interactive strategy.
I like the interactive Blackboard method the most because of the back and forth interaction between the instructor and students. I get a lot out of the interaction and I am used to it. It is familiar but it is the interactive component of Blackboard that I missed in the webcasts.
One brief group participant liked both the recorded YouTube KT presentation strategy and printed copies. The other two brief group participants preferred the briefs to other KT strategies. All the participants said that the evidence-based research that they received through the KT strategies were or would be helpful when working with customers with TBI. One participant who received the brief said,
It certainly did. I’m not serving any now, but the knowledge of TBI and availability of the techniques and deeper understanding of the commonalities and the individual differences in TBI was important to know and helpful.
The one YouTube group participant who had a number of transition youth with TBI believed that the evidence-based research was useful and she said,
Absolutely! I had experience with adults with TBI, but every case is different. I believe no two disability cases are the same and each plan must be unique to that person but TBI cases are greatly different from each other. These TBI cases may have totally different issues to deal with. I have never seen two TBI cases that were similar at all. Even though I have the experience with TBI cases, the YouTube provided information that I did not know and that I found was helpful.
In summary, all participants found the KT strategies effective. Some, however, said they would prefer either a webinar or a more interactive strategy. Our previous research indicated that these practitioners prefer a number of ways of receiving information (Graham et al., 2013). In conducting future KT research, participant KT strategy preference should be considered.
References
Graham, C. W., Inge, K., Wehman, P., Murphy, K., Revell, W. G., & West, M. D. (2013). Moving employment research into practice: Knowledge and application of evidence-based practices by state vocational rehabilitation agency staff. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 39, 75–81.
Inge, K. J., Graham, C. W., Erickson, D., Sima, A., West, M., & Cimera, R. E. (2016). Improving the employment outcomes of individuals with traumatic brain injury: Strategies to impact the use of evidence-based practices by vocational rehabilitation counselors. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 45, 107–115.
