How do we make research useful for practice? Co-designing new knowledge products for allied health professionals (AHPs)

The aim of this programme is to design and prototype new types of knowledge products for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) to make research more useful for practice. AHPs comprise 12 distinct health professions (including physiotherapists, podiatrists and dietitians) who provide essential diagnoses, treatments and rehabilitation in health and social care. AHP practice should be informed by best research evidence; however, traditional research outputs, such as journal articles, are often not accessible and useful for practitioners. This programme will bring together AHP practitioners and researchers with experts from a variety of creative fields (e.g. artists, designers, creative writers, technologists) in a series of four interactive workshops. Using the Design Council’s ‘double diamond’ methodology, the programme will collaboratively define what ‘useful’ research knowledge should look like and develop new approaches for presenting research in useful ways. Bringing together practitioners and researchers from diverse fields, who do not normally work with one another, will generate novel, creative solutions that reach beyond traditional dissemination methods prevalent in evidence-based healthcare. The programme activities will foster sustainable and productive relationships between AHP practitioners, researchers and creative experts that lead to proposals for collaborative projects and establish an ongoing agenda for promoting new types of knowledge products for AHP practice.