Translating Research to Primary Care Settings
<p>Clinical research is often difficult to translate to primary care settings, where staff must deal with real-world challenges such as patients' limited English proficiency and health clinics' limited resources. That's where "translational research" can help, by testing out interventions with a broad range of patients, providers, and settings.<br><br>In "<a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=21265&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D361627%26%23doc361627">Navigating the Terrain Between Research and Practice: A Collaborative Research Network (CRN) Case Study in Diabetes Research</a>" (<em>Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine,</em> Jan./Feb. 2006), Margaret A. Handley, Ph.D., Hali Hammer, M.D., and Dean Schillinger, M.D., explore the trade-offs inherent in translational research through a case study of the Improving Diabetes Efforts Across Language and Literacy (IDEALL) project. Major funding for the study was provided by The Commonwealth Fund and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.<br><br>The authors say that researchers designing practical clinical trials must strive to balance a study's internal validity with its external validity, while making clear how their decisions may influence the interpretation of results.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2006/mar/translating-research-to-primary-care-settings