Stakeholder dialogue about evidence-based practice: An e-learning tool to facilitate discussion

Evidence-based practice is a cornerstone of effective health promotion for patients and populations. However, few tools have been available to train the diverse professional groups that need to collaborate to address behavioral and psychosocial problems. The Evidence Based Behavioral Practice (EBBP) project, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, provides web-based tools that were designed as a learning resource to harmonize and upgrade the approach to evidence-based practice among a variety of stakeholders. Interactive online learning modules provide experiential training in the evidence-based practice process for individuals and communities, critical appraisal of evidence, and shared decision-making with affected parties in a health decision. A recent module, entitled "Stakeholder Dialogue about Evidence-Based Practice" was developed as a stimulus to spark discussion and perspective-taking among academics, practitioners, and community members. The module features clips of interviews with a variety of stakeholders as well as didactic commentary. Community clinicians offer candid descriptions about how trust, communication, and time impose challenges to conducting research, while conveying more favorable views about quality improvement research. The stakeholder module affords a valuable tool to introduce academic and community partners to each other's points of view, as a way of paving the way toward successful collaboration for research to practice translation.