The translation research in a dental setting (TRiaDS) programme protocol

Jan E Clarkson, Craig R Ramsay, Martin P Eccles, Sandra Eldridge, Jeremy M Grimshaw, Marie Johnston, Susan Michie, Shaun Treweek, Alan Walker, Linda Young, Irene Black, Debbie Bonetti, Heather Cassie, Jill Francis, Gillian MacKenzie, Lorna MacPherson, Lorna McKee, Nigel Pitts, Jim Rennie, Doug Stirling, Colin Tilley, Carole Torgerson, Luke Vale

It is well documented that the translation of knowledge into clinical practice is a slow and haphazard process. This is no less true for dental healthcare than other types of healthcare. One common policy strategy to help promote knowledge translation is the production of clinical guidance, but it has been demonstrated that the simple publication of guidance is unlikely to optimise practice. Additional knowledge translation interventions have been shown to be effective, but effectiveness varies and much of this variation is unexplained. The need for researchers to move beyond single studies to develop a generalisable, theory based, knowledge translation framework has been identified.For dentistry in Scotland, the production of clinical guidance is the responsibility of the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP). TRiaDS (Translation Research in a Dental Setting) is a multidisciplinary research collaboration, embedded within the SDCEP guidance development process, which aims to establish a practical evaluative framework for the translation of guidance and to conduct and evaluate a programme of integrated, multi-disciplinary research to enhance the science of knowledge translation.