Increasing research utilisation through accessible research findings for occupational therapists

Occupational therapists have reported that they lack confidence in and have difficulty interpreting, synthesising and applying research findings in day-to-day professional practice (Thomas & Law, 2013). This, along with other factors, contributes to delays in research translation; that is, the time lag between publication of research results in scientific journals and their integration into clinical practice. On average there is a 17-year time lag between initial publication of research findings and the evidence being incorporated into clinical practice (Green, Ottoson, García, Hiatt & Roditis, 2014). When making clinical decisions, occupational therapists typically draw on information from a range of sources; the most common sources of information being past experience, professional development activities, journal clubs and textbooks available in their own area of practice (Metzler & Metz, 2010). These findings reveal that while therapists will draw on information from a number of sources to inform their clinical practice, they do not routinely refer to scientific journal articles (Curtis, Fry, Shaban & Considine, 2017). More needs to be done to ensure that research findings are presented in accessible formats for clinicians.