Clinical rehabilitation research units: myth or reality? A commentary

A measure of community members' perceptions of the impacts of research partnerships in health and social services

Currently, there are no psychometrically sound outcome measures by which to assess the impacts of research partnerships. This article describes the development of a 33-item, survey questionnaire measuring community members' perceptions of the impact of research partnerships addressing health or social issues. The Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships (CIROP) was developed using information from the literatures on health promotion, community development, research utilization, and community-based participatory research, and from focus groups involving 29 key informants. Data from 174 community members were used to determine the factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the four CIROP scales, and to provide evidence of construct validity. The CIROP informs research partnerships about the extent of their impact in the areas of Personal Knowledge Development, Personal Research Skill Development, Organizational/Group Access To and Use of Information, and Community and Organizational Development, allowing them to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies. As well, the CIROP can be used as a research tool to assess the effectiveness of knowledge sharing approaches, determine the most influential activities of research partnerships, and determine structural characteristics of partnerships associated with various types of impact. The CIROP provides a better understanding of community members' perspectives and expectations of research partnerships, with important implications for knowledge transfer and uptake.

A framework of operating models for interdisciplinary research programs in clinical service organizations

A framework of operating models for interdisciplinary research programs in clinical service organizations is presented, consisting of a "clinician-researcher" skill development model, a program evaluation model, a researcher-led knowledge generation model, and a knowledge conduit model. Together, these models comprise a tailored, collaborative approach to enhancing research-informed practice in community-based clinical service organizations. The models place different degrees of emphasis on the development of research-related skills in practitioners, the generation of knowledge tailored to clinical practice, and knowledge sharing. The nature, philosophical basis, roles of research staff members, outputs and impacts, and strengths and limitations of each model are described, in the context of a long-standing, interdisciplinary research program in a children's rehabilitation service organization. The use of the model framework as a tool for the design of interdisciplinary, community-based research programs is discussed.