MM202 - Bridging the Research-to-Practice Gap in Virtual Hearing Health Care

Thursday, April 20, 2023

9:15 AM – 9:45 AM PDT

Location: Tahoma 4 ** 800 Pike

Earn 0.05 CEUs

Lead Presenter(s)

Danielle Glista, PhD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Western University
Western University
London

Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.

PDF Handouts Slides

Contributor(s)

Sheila Moodie, PhD (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor
Faculty of Health Sciences / School of CSD and The National Centre for Audiology
Western University
London, Ontario, Canada

Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Robin O'Hagan, BA; CDA (she/her/hers)

Communication Disorders Assistant
Western University
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada

Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Danielle DiFabio, B.HSc. (she/her/hers)

PhD Candidate
Western University
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada

Disclosure(s): Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing); Sonova AG: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
Shruthi Sundararaman (she/her/hers)

BMSc Candidate
Western University
Western University
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Anita Kothari, PhD

Western University

Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.

Abstract:
Over the past several decades, technological advancements have increased accessibility and quality of virtual care. Despite this, hearing healthcare providers have been slow to uptake virtual care, in part due to a research-to-practice gap constraining evidence-based practice. One approach to closing this gap is by using implementation science. This session will describe how the knowledge-to-action framework and normalization process theory can be used to guide researchers and clinicians in the implementation of complex interventions. These concepts will be explored as part of an international multi-site project that rapidly implemented virtual hearing aid care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary:
Over the past several decades, technological advancements have dramatically increased the accessibility and quality of digitally available health care such as virtual care. Despite this, hearing healthcare providers have been slow to uptake virtual care, in part due to a research-to-practice gap that has constrained evidence-based practices. One approach to closing this gap is through the utilization of implementation science frameworks, models, and theories. This session will describe how the knowledge-to-action framework and the normalization process theory can be used to guide researchers and clinicians when implementing complex health interventions, such as virtual care.

These implementation science tools have been explored as part of an international multi-site project that included the rapid implementation of clinical virtual hearing aid care during COVID-19. The strengths of engaging community partners early-on and as part of the knowledge creation stage will be discussed, along with the benefits of using action-oriented, dynamic, and iterative processes in research. Resulting knowledge products will be presented to help guide current audiology practices, including a co-created clinical practice guideline on the delivery of virtual hearing aid care.

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to identify implementation frameworks and theories commonly used to help bridge research-to-practice gaps; list two benefits to utilizing Knowledge-to-Action processes when implementing complex health interventions; identify knowledge products currently being used to improve the clinical uptake of virtual audiology care.

Learning Objectives:

Identify implementation frameworks and theories commonly used to help bridge research-to-practice gaps.
List two benefits to utilizing Knowledge-to-Action processes when implementing complex health interventions.
Identify knowledge products currently being used to improve the clinical uptake of virtual audiology care.