TY - JOUR
T1 - Defining and evaluating transdisciplinary research
T2 - implications for aging and technology
AU - Grigorovich, Alisa
AU - Fang, Mei Lan
AU - Sixsmith, Judith
AU - Kontos, Pia
N1 - This work was funded by Canada’s AGE-WELL NCE to support the cross-cutting activity cluster on Transdisciplinary Working (CC3) whose co-leads are Dr. Judith Sixsmith and Dr. Pia Kontos, and team members are Dr. Alisa Grigorovich, Ms. Mei Lan Fang and Dr. Mineko Wada. Alisa Grigorovich holds a Postdoctoral Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Award, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario, Canada.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Purpose: Transdisciplinary research has the potential to enhance the real-world impact of the field of aging and technology. This is a context-driven and problem-focused approach to knowledge production that involves collaboration across scientific disciplines and academic and nonacademic sectors. To sustain broader implementation of this approach, a scoping review was conducted on the impact of this approach on research processes, outcomes and uptake.Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted of aging, health/medicine, and technology literatures indexed in three electronic data bases (Medline/OVID, EBSCO, ProQuest) from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2015. Search terms included three themes: (1) transdisciplinarity; (2) research outcomes and (3) social change.Results: Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria. We found that a transdisciplinary approach to research enhances integration of diverse knowledge, scientific and extra-scientific outcomes, capacity to engage in translational research and the uptake of research knowledge. We also identified a number of facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of this approach. No articles evaluating transdisciplinary research specifically in the context of aging and technology were found.Conclusions: Adoption of transdisciplinary research in aging and technology may foster greater uptake of technological innovation in the real-world by supporting integration of diverse knowledge and enhancing engagement of experiential and nonacademic stakeholders in the research and development process. However, supporting successful implementation of this approach requires investment of personal and structural resources. More research is needed to better understand the evidence base on the adoption of this approach in aging and technology projects.
AB - Purpose: Transdisciplinary research has the potential to enhance the real-world impact of the field of aging and technology. This is a context-driven and problem-focused approach to knowledge production that involves collaboration across scientific disciplines and academic and nonacademic sectors. To sustain broader implementation of this approach, a scoping review was conducted on the impact of this approach on research processes, outcomes and uptake.Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted of aging, health/medicine, and technology literatures indexed in three electronic data bases (Medline/OVID, EBSCO, ProQuest) from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2015. Search terms included three themes: (1) transdisciplinarity; (2) research outcomes and (3) social change.Results: Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria. We found that a transdisciplinary approach to research enhances integration of diverse knowledge, scientific and extra-scientific outcomes, capacity to engage in translational research and the uptake of research knowledge. We also identified a number of facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of this approach. No articles evaluating transdisciplinary research specifically in the context of aging and technology were found.Conclusions: Adoption of transdisciplinary research in aging and technology may foster greater uptake of technological innovation in the real-world by supporting integration of diverse knowledge and enhancing engagement of experiential and nonacademic stakeholders in the research and development process. However, supporting successful implementation of this approach requires investment of personal and structural resources. More research is needed to better understand the evidence base on the adoption of this approach in aging and technology projects.
KW - Transdisciplinarity
KW - aging and technology
KW - impact
KW - research evaluation
KW - scoping review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065624719&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17483107.2018.1496361
DO - 10.1080/17483107.2018.1496361
M3 - Article
C2 - 30318930
SN - 1748-3107
VL - 14
SP - 533
EP - 542
JO - Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
JF - Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
IS - 6
ER -