Co-Developing a Knowledge Exchange Network to Facilitate Access to Clinical Best Practices during Care Transitions of Patients with Chronic Diseases: An Example in Oncology

摘要

Despite numerous Quebec initiatives to improve transitional care for patients with chronic diseases such as cancer, clinical teams and patients still encounter some difficulties during these transitions. This article presents a review of the literature on the involvement of clinical teams and patients-as-partners in the changes made to clinical practices. It also highlights the main issues that arise during the implementation of a knowledge exchange strategy with a Forum for Knowledge Exchange (FKE) that aims to guide clinical teams and patients to improve the continuum of care in oncology. The FKE is an interactive space for researchers, nurses, other healthcare professionals, and patients-as-partners where they can share their knowledge, both tacit and scientific. This study uses a participative methodology and is conducted in six clinical settings that span the continuum of care in oncology. Patients-as-partners are an integral part of the implementation process, as active participants rather than in a simply advisory role. This strategy should help improve transitions between the different phases of the care continuum. The co-construction of knowledge stemming from this clinical research study should lead to a renewal of clinical practices and thus guide clinical decision-making in multidisciplinary teams and patients.