Eleanor Jackson-Bowers, PHC RIS
 A new publication from PHC RIS, FOCUS on. Knowledge Brokering is being circulated with this newsletter. Knowledge brokering will be a new concept for some.
Knowledge brokering is located at the confluence of two streams of thought: the perceived need for evidence based practice and policy making and the movement towards promoting the diffusion of knowledge through interpersonal relationships or communities of practice. It is related to a number of models of the transfer of research knowledge between researchers, practitioners and policy makers.
Models of knowledge brokering vary considerably, and you can read about them in the publication, but some broad features can be discerned. Foremost of these is the role of making connections between people for the purpose of facilitating evidence based policy making or practice. Knowledge brokers are builders of relationships and networks, well informed and up to date on what is happening. They are subject experts and they have a high level of credibility with both researchers and policy makers and can be trusted. They are synthesisers of customised information and 'insert' that information into just the right context to make a difference but their role is not simple dissemination. Beyond this the role varies a great deal.
Many more people engage in knowledge brokering activities than have the title knowledge broker and it sounds like what many of us do routinely in our work. Primary health care people are great networkers. What sets this role apart is that there are structures supporting it. The role is often located at the centre of a formal network of organisations as in the Cooperative Research Centres or in an intermediary organisation, such as the Sax Institute in NSW. The FOCUS on. Knowledge Brokering will, I am sure, generate a lot of interest.
A copy of the publication can be downloaded from www.phcris.org.au/publications/focuson/
For further information, contact:
Eleanor Jackson-Bowers
Research Associate
E: eleanor.jackson-bowers@flinders.edu.au
|
