Translating Knowledge into Action: A Cognitive Perspective to Information Needs of Healthcare Decision-Makers in the US
Purpose: To assess the healthcare information needs of decision-makers in a local US healthcare setting in efforts to promote the translation of knowledge into action, focusing on perceptions and preferences regarding usable information in making decisions as to maximize the contribution of healthcare findings to policy and practice.
Methods: This study utilized a qualitative data collection and analysis strategy. Data was collected via open-ended key-informant interviews from a sample of 37 public and private-sector healthcare decision-makers in the Houston/Harris County safety net, comprised of legislators, executive managers, service providers, and healthcare funders. Decision-makers were asked to identify the types of information, the level of collaboration with outside agencies, useful attributes of information, and the sources, formats/styles, and modes of information preferred in making important decisions and the basis for their preferences.
Results: The findings revealed that when confronted with a myriad of healthcare facts, data, and perspectives, decision-makers acquire information, categorize information as usable knowledge, and select information for use based on the application of four cross-cutting cognitive frameworks primarily related to time orientation, followed by information seeking directionality, selection of validation processes, and centrality of credibility/reliability (Figure 1). In applying the frameworks, decision-makers are influenced by numerous factors associated with their perceptions of the utility of information and the importance of collaboration with outside agencies in making decisions as well as professional and organizational characteristics.
Conclusion: An approach based on a cognitive framework may be valuable in identifying the perceptive and contextual determinants of information use by decision-makers in US healthcare settings. Such an approach can facilitate active producer/user collaborations and promote the production of mutually valued, comprehensible, and usable findings leading to sustainable knowledge translation efforts long-term.
Figure 1. Mutually Influencing Cognitive Frameworks of Information Acquisition, Uptake, and Utilization in Healthcare Decision-Making