Russell, J., Greenhalgh, T., Boynton, P., & Rigby, M. (2004). Soft networks for bridging the gap between research and practice: Illuminative evaluation of CHAIN. British Medical Journal, 328, 1174-1180.
Description
Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network for Effective Health Care (CHAIN) is a ‘virtual’ knowledge exchange method used in evidence-based health care. Research evidence is abundant for a variety of health-related interventions, yet is inaccessible to busy practitioners who may not have skills in literature searching or critical appraisal. Further, high quality evidence may exist regarding the effectiveness of an intervention, but not regarding how to carry out the intervention. This lack of evidence is a particular concern for public health where local context, resources and partnerships impact the administration of interventions and/or innovations.
This method was developed in the United Kingdom to help stimulate dialogue among front line practitioners and researchers using a low technology e-mail forum. CHAIN members use the forum to learn about or publicize upcoming events, request information from other CHAIN members, and download resources.
The CHAIN method could help bridge the gap between research and practice by providing a targeted and personalized strategy to share research findings and promote actionable knowledge. Development of this method appears to have included public health practitioners. CHAIN can be used in public health where diverse geography could support ‘virtual’ knowledge exchange strategies.
Steps for Using Method/Tool
Those interested in CHAIN membership can contact CHAIN Canada http://www.epoc.uottawa.ca/CHAINCanada/. Membership is free. Individuals can select the type of CHAIN they wish to join: In Canada, CHAIN 1 focuses on research and evidence-based practice; CHAIN 2 is for people interested in widening participation in learning; CHAIN 3 is a community interested in innovation and improvement, and CHAIN 4 is for people involved in cancer care.
Members have access to the directories of all CHAINs, not only the one(s) they have joined. This enables networking to occur across as well as within individual CHAINs. More CHAINs will be introduced in future, based on the same principles, but focusing on other fields of interest.
Evaluation
2,800 network members participated in an illuminative evaluation of the original CHAIN method. Using a variety of qualitative approaches, this evaluation method focused on description and interpretation rather than prediction and measurement. The main outcome measures were the tracking of e-mail messages, interviews with core staff, qualitative analysis of messages, focus group postings, and feedback from users of the method (Russell, Greenhalgh, Boynton, & Rigby, 2004).
Results of the evaluation indicated that CHAIN members perceived the networking method to be a valuable source of information, permitted access to research evidence, and provided opportunities to link and connect with other practitioners, researchers and experts.
These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.
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