Public Health Considerations in Knowledge Translation in the Emergency Department

2007 
Abstract Effective preventive and screening interventions have not been widely adopted in emergency departments(EDs). Barriers to knowledge translation of these initiatives include lack of knowledge of current evidence,perceived lack of efficacy, and resource availability. To address this challenge, the Academic EmergencyMedicine 2007 Consensus Conference, ‘‘Knowledge Translation in Emergency Medicine: Establishing a Re-search Agenda and Guide Map for Evidence Uptake,’’ convened a public health focus group. The questionthis group addressed was ‘‘What are the unique contextual elements that need to be addressed to bringproven preventive and other public health initiatives into the ED setting?’’ Public health experts communi-cated via the Internet beforehand and at a breakout session during the conference to reach consensus onthis topic, using published evidence and expert opinion. Recommendations include 1) to integrate provenpublic health interventions into the emergency medicine core curriculum, 2) to configure clinical informa-tion systems to facilitate public health interventions, and 3) to use ancillary ED personnel to enhance deliv-ery of public health interventions and to obtain successful funding for these initiatives. Because additionalresearch in this area is needed, a research agenda for this important topic was also developed. The ED pro-vides medical care to a unique population, many with increased needs for preventive care. Because theseindividuals may have limited access to screening and preventive interventions, wider adoption of theseinitiatives may improve the health of this vulnerable population.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2007; 14:1036–1041 a 2007 by the Society for Academic EmergencyMedicineKeywords: public health, emergency department, knowledge translation
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