In total, 76 health care organizations in Canada (rehabilitation schools [n = 19], regulatory bodies [n = 20], professional associations [n = 25], research institutions [n = 12]) were contacted by e-mail and subsequently by phone. In addition, 934 Canadian hospitals and rehabilitation centers were contacted by phone by the first author and a research assistant. Of the 475 potential participants who logged onto the survey platform, 372 agreed to participate (78% participation rate). Although 182 participants completed all sections of the survey (49% completion rate), data from 198 respondents answering at least one of the knowledge brokering activities’ section of the survey were included in the final analysis (Fig. 1).
Socio-demographic information
Table 1 presents the socio-demographic information of KBs. Participants were from Central Canada (71%), Western Canada (27%) and Eastern Canada (2%). They spoke either English (59%) or French (41%), and the majority (73%) was between the ages of 36–60 years old.
Table 1
Socio-demographic characteristics of KBs (n = 198)
Characteristics | n (%) |
Region |
Central | 140 (71%) |
Eastern | 4 (2%) |
Western | 54 (27%) |
Province |
Alberta | 20 (10%) |
British Columbia | 20 (10%) |
Manitoba | 13 (7%) |
New Brunswick | 1(1%) |
Newfoundland | 1 (1%) |
Nova Scotia | 2 (1%) |
Ontario | 36 (18%) |
Quebec | 104 (53%) |
Saskatchewan | 1 (1%) |
Language |
English | 117 (59%) |
French | 81 (41%) |
Age group |
Middle age (36–60) | 144 (73%) |
Senior (> 60 years old) | 10 (5%) |
Young age (25–35) | 44 (22%) |
Professional Characteristics
Table 2 presents the professional characteristics of KBs. Half of the 198 participants (n = 99) were clinicians, 18% (n = 35) were researchers, and 13% (n = 26) were managers. Of the 99 clinicians, half (n = 49) were occupational therapists, 36% (n = 36) were physiotherapists, 6% (n = 6) were speech-language pathologists, and 8% (n = 8) reported “other” (e.g. nurses, recreational therapists). More than half (56%) had over 15 years of clinical experience, 21% had 6–15 years of clinical experience, and 23% had 5 years or more. The majority of participants (n = 102) reported their titles as health professionals (i.e., physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist), while fewer participants (n = 52) had a knowledge translation-related title (i.e., knowledge broker, knowledge translation lead, knowledge mobilization specialist, research coordinator, best practice coordinator, professional practice lead, clinician champion, clinical educator), and few had administrative titles (n = 39), including manager, project manager, team leader, healthcare improvement specialist, regional professional practice consultant.
Table 2
a Professional characteristics of KBs
Characteristics | n (%) | Total |
Profession | | 198 |
Clinician | 99 (50%) | |
Manager | 26 (13%) | |
Researcher | 35 (18%) | |
other | 62 (31%) | |
Types of working organizations | | 198 |
Clinical setting | 149 (75%) | |
Research setting | 35 (18%) | |
Academic setting | 43 (22%) | |
Others | 20 (10%) | |
Experience in performing KBs activities | | 198 |
Beginner (≤ 10 years) | 147 (74%) | |
Moderate experience (11–20 years) | 40 (20%) | |
Experts (Over 21 years) | 11 (6%) | |
Educational level | | 198 |
Undergraduate (Diploma, Bachelor’s) | 65 (33%) | |
Graduate (Master, Doctoral, Post-Doc) | 133 (67%) | |
Job status | | 198 |
Part-time (1–3 days) | 110 (56%) | |
Full-time (4–5 days per week) | 88 (44%) | |
Clinical professions (*) | | 99 |
Physical therapists | 36 (36%) | |
Occupational therapists | 49 (49%) | |
Speech language pathologists | 6 (6%) | |
Others | 8 (8%) | |
Clinical experience (*) | | 99 |
Low experience (≤ 5 years) | 23 (23%) | |
Moderate (6–15 years) | 21 (21%) | |
Expert (≥ 16 years) | 55 (56%) | |
Frequency of performing KBs activities (**) | | 110 |
Daily | 16 (15%) | |
Weekly | 35 (32%) | |
Monthly | 59 (54%) | |
Payment status | | 110 |
Paid | 66 (60%) | |
Non-paid | 44 (40%) | |
(*) total number is 99, since this is for KBs clinicians only. |
(**) total is 110, since this is for part-time KBs only. |
Table 2
b Professional characteristics of KBs (*)
Characteristics | n (%) | Total (*) |
Starting KBs activities | | 194 |
Volunteered | 87 (45%) | |
Hired via job post | 110 (57%) | |
Employers selection | 51 (26%) | |
Colleagues selection | 19 (10%) | |
KT expert selection | 13 (7%) | |
KBs recommendation | 16 (8%) | |
Evaluate abilities to perform KBs activities | 10 (5%) | |
KBs networks | | 188 |
Clinician | 177 (94%) | |
Researchers | 69 (37%) | |
Students | 66 (35%) | |
Receiving KBs training | | 182 |
Didn’t receive training | 112 (62%) | |
Received training | 70 (38%) | |
Salary rate for full-time KBs | | 66 |
31$ − 40$ | 11 (17%) | |
≤ 30 | 4 (6%) | |
≥ 41$ | 51 (77%) | |
Salary rate for part-time KBs | | 73 |
31$ − 40$ | 18 (25%) | |
≤ 30$ | 5 (7%) | |
≥ 41$ | 50 (68%) | |
KBs perception to their salary | | 45 |
Equal to the salary of a clinician | 19 (42%) | |
Less than the salary of a clinician | 9 (20%) | |
More than the salary of a clinician | 17 (38%) | |
(*) Number of respondents for each question varied. |
Seventy-five percent (n = 149), worked in clinical settings, 22% (n = 43) in academic settings, and 18% (n = 35) in research settings. Out of 188 participants, 94% (n = 177) reported that they worked with clinicians, and 37% (n = 69) and 35% (n = 66) work with researchers and students, respectively. Regarding the frequency with which they performed their KBs role, more than half (56%, n = 110) were part-time and, of those, 54% (n = 59) were performing this role monthly, while 32% and 15% were performing their KBs role on a weekly and daily basis, respectively. Forty-four percent (n = 88) worked as a KBs full-time. Concerning the participants’ experience as a KBs, 74% (n = 147) performed this role for ≤ 10 years, while 20% (n = 40) and 6% (n = 11) for 11–20 years and over 21 years, respectively. Moreover, approaches by which the role of KBs was assigned to participants varied. Of the 194 participants, 57% (n = 110) were hired following an application for a posted KBs job, while 45% (n = 87) volunteered to perform this role as part of their existing position, and 26% were selected by their employers.
Seventy percent of participants (66 full-time and 73 part-time) reported on their salary. Rates were ≥ 41$/hour for full-time KBs (77%, n = 51) and part-time KBs (68%, n = 50), 31$ − 40$/hour 17% (n = 11) of full-time KBs and 25% (n = 18) of part-time, and ≤ 30$/hour for 6% (n = 4) of full-time KBs, and 7% (n = 5) of part-time KBs. Moreover, 19 KBs out of 45 (42%) thought that their salary was equal to the salary they would receive working as a clinician, 38% (n = 17) thought that their salary was higher than clinicians’, and 20% (n = 9) thought that their salary was less than clinicians’.
Roles and tasks
Table 3 and Fig. 2 present the frequency of performing the KBs’ five roles as well as their corresponding tasks. The primary role of participants was linking agent (weighted-average “WA” =1.84), followed by capacity builder (WA = 1.76), information manager (1.71), facilitator (WA = 1.41), and evaluator (WA = 1.32).
Table 3
Activities performing the five role domains of KBs’ roles and tasks
Roles (activities) | Total | Responses n (%) | Task weight average | Role weight average |
Usually (at least once/week) | Sometimes (at least once/month) | Rarely (at least once/ 3 months) |
Information Manager | 198 | | | | | |
Access research evidence through activities such as searching research databases journals, or research websites | | 95 (48%) | 60 (30%) | 43 (22%) | 2.4 | 1.71 |
Participate in self-directed learning activities such as attending webinars or workshops, or reading recent peer reviewed literature | | 68 (34%) | 82 (41%) | 48 (24%) | 2.21 |
Follow the latest evidence through activities such as setting up alerts for journals and reviewing them | | 78 (39%) | 42 (21%) | 78 (39%) | 1.95 |
Perform administrative activities such as organizing conferences, meetings, or workshops | | 57 (29%) | 60 (30%) | 81 (41%) | 1.88 |
Develop knowledge products such as educational material, flyers, binders, online programs, etc. | | 50 (25%) | 61 (31%) | 87 (44%) | 1.8 |
Analyze research evidence through activities such as summarizing and interpreting research results | | 48 (24%) | 66 (33%) | 84 (42%) | 1.78 |
Assess the quality of research evidence | | 49 (25%) | 56 (28%) | 93 (47%) | 1.69 |
Support applications to funding agencies | | 19 (10%) | 23 (12%) | 156 (79%) | 0.89 |
Formulate a research question (PICO question) | | 9 (5%) | 32 (16%) | 157 (79%) | 0.88 |
Linking agent | 197 | | | | | |
Communicate with other individuals who perform knowledge brokering activities | | 67 (34%) | 52 (26%) | 78 (40%) | 2.03 | 1.84 |
Communicate with stakeholders outside your organization | | 65 (33%) | 59 (30%) | 73 (37%) | 2.02 |
Identify common goals among stakeholders | | 62 (31%) | 69 (35%) | 66 (34%) | 1.92 |
Identify networking opportunities for stakeholders | | 53 (27%) | 55 (28%) | 89 (45%) | 1.73 |
Develop a network or community of practice | | 40 (20%) | 48 (24%) | 109 (55%) | 1.52 |
Capacity builder | 197 | | | | | |
Help others apply research evidence into clinical practice | | 65 (33%) | 62 (31%) | 70 (36%) | 1.98 | 1.76 |
Provide relevant information to your stakeholders | | 64 (32%) | 63 (32%) | 70 (36%) | 1.98 |
Design strategies to address organizational barriers to change the practice | | 51 (26%) | 66 (34%) | 80 (41%) | 1.9 |
Tailor resources to stakeholder needs | | 56 (28%) | 62 (31%) | 79 (40%) | 1.79 |
Design strategies to address professional/individual barriers to change the practice | | 62 (31%) | 61 (31%) | 74 (38%) | 1.74 |
Tailor resources to local contexts | | 58 (29%) | 50 (25%) | 89 (45%) | 1.74 |
Deliver educational courses, seminars, or workshops to your stakeholder | | 24 (12%) | 56 (28%) | 117 (59%) | 1.41 |
Facilitator | 190 | | | | | |
Promote knowledge exchange among stakeholders (e.g. by supporting peer-to-peer learning) | | 54 (28%) | 69 (36%) | 67 (35%) | 1.96 | 1.41 |
Facilitate workshops, follow-up sessions, individual and group discussions | | 43 (23%) | 65 (34%) | 82 (43%) | 1.82 |
Facilitate organizational changes | | 38 (20%) | 60 (32%) | 92 (48%) | 1.64 |
Promote reflective practice such as leading discussion groups or/and peer review activities touching on clinical practices | | 32 (17%) | 63 (33%) | 95 (50%) | 1.55 |
Guide ongoing collaborative learning | | 30 (16%) | 44 (23%) | 116 (61%) | 1.25 |
Organize schedules to hold educational meetings during the workday | | 23 (12%) | 52 (27%) | 115 (61%) | 1.22 |
Facilitate online discussion boards | | 6 (3%) | 15 (8%) | 169 (89%) | 0.45 |
Evaluator | 190 | | | | | |
Evaluate the impact of your knowledge brokering activities | | 14 (7%) | 42 (22%) | 134 (71%) | 2.21 | 1.32 |
Identify opportunities for integrating evidence into practice | | 55 (29%) | 65 (34%) | 70 (37%) | 1.91 |
Identify relevant stakeholders | | 54 (28%) | 60 (32%) | 76 (40%) | 1.82 |
Assess professional barriers to practice change and/or practice change facilitators | | 29 (15%) | 66 (35%) | 95 (50%) | 1.52 |
Assess organizational barriers to practice change and/or practice change facilitators | | 31 (16%) | 61 (32%) | 98 (52%) | 1.51 |
Conduct environmental scans or needs assessments | | 21 (11%) | 53 (28%) | 116 (61%) | 1.36 |
Assess organizational capacity for change | | 20 (11%) | 49 (26%) | 121 (64%) | 1.17 |
Evaluate KT and/or implementation process outcomes | | 19 (10%) | 40 (21%) | 131 (69%) | 1.13 |
Integrate KT frameworks and evidence into evaluation processes | | 25 (13%) | 30 (16%) | 135 (71%) | 1.06 |
Evaluate linkage and exchange networks | | 7 (4%) | 28 (15%) | 155 (82%) | 0.71 |
The most common tasks of the linking agent role were “Communicating with other individuals who perform knowledge brokering activities” (WA = 2.03) and “Communicating with stakeholders outside your organization” (WA = 2.02), followed by “Identifying common goals among stakeholders” (WA = 1.92). For the capacity builder role, the most common tasks were “Helping others apply research evidence into clinical practice” (WA = 1.98), “Providing relevant information to your stakeholders” (WA = 1.98), and “Design strategies to address organizational barriers to change the practice” (WA = 1.9). For the information manager role, the most common tasks were “Access research evidence through activities such as searching research databases journals, or research websites” (WA = 2.4), “Participate in self-directed learning activities such as attending webinars or workshops, or reading recent peer-reviewed literature” (WA = 2.21), “Follow the latest evidence through activities such as setting up alerts for journals and reviewing them” (WA = 1.95), “Perform administrative activities such as organizing conferences, meetings, or workshops” (WA = 1.88), and “Develop knowledge products such as educational material, flyers, binders, online programs” (WA = 1.8), respectively. With respect to facilitator role, the most common tasks were “Promote knowledge exchange among stakeholders (e.g. by supporting peer-to-peer learning)” (WA = 1.96), and “Facilitate workshops, follow-up sessions, individual and group discussions” (WA = 1.82). Concerning the evaluator role, the most common tasks were “Evaluate the impact of your knowledge brokering activities (WA = 2.21), “Identify opportunities for integrating evidence into practice” (WA = 1.91), and “Identify relevant stakeholders” (WA = 1.82).
Training opportunities
Of the 198 participants, 67% (n = 133) had completed graduate studies (e.g., master’s, doctoral or post-doctoral degree). Only 38% (n = 70) indicated having received some training to undertake or perform their KBs role. Training covered a variety of topics including knowledge translation and knowledge brokering (i.e., knowledge translation professional certificate, practicing knowledge translation, knowledge mobilization certificate), research activities (i.e., program evaluation), and communication abilities (i.e., leadership, emotional intelligence, and coaching). The most common approaches through which participants were informed about training opportunities included suggestions from a colleague/employer/manager (n = 25), through online searches (n = 22), and via newsletter subscriptions (n = 19). Many participants (n = 115) indicated needing additional training to be able to fulfill their roles. Proposed topics included knowledge translation, knowledge brokering, research topics (i.e., searching, assessing, and synthesizing evidence), organizational change strategies, communication and interpersonal abilities, and lastly skills for using technology in KT (i.e.; mobile applications and video games).