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The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded £7.8m to its Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) to support better use of research evidence across the health and social care system.

The funding will be used to support the process of ‘Knowledge Mobilisation’ – connecting and encouraging people to share health and care research evidence, and to use this evidence to improve the way in which health and care services are organised and delivered.

The initiative aims to reduce the time it takes to roll-out effective, evidence-based interventions, policies and models of care to address high-priority national and regional challenges, as well as maximise the impact of research.

£560,000 for our region to support new posts

The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) has secured £560,000 from this scheme, which will be used to fund four new Knowledge Mobilisation posts.

The Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows will be based across the health and care system, to build knowledge connections between the ARC North East and North Cumbria and health and care organisations in our region, working closely with our Integrated Care Board (ICB) for the North East and North Cumbria.

This will include identifying existing evidence-based treatments and models of care, and supporting their integration into practice, working with practitioners and service users. They will also be supported to develop their skills so they can capture and communicate the needs of local decision makers back to the research community.

The aim is to create a dynamic loop in which health and care knowledge needs are met with research evidence in real time, creating an improvement-focused, evidence-based culture across our health and care system.

Arne Wolters, Implementation Lead for the NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria, said:

“This new funding and the appointment of our four new research fellows will enable us to work even more closely with our health and care partners and our ICB, to make sure we identify and mobilise evidence from research and innovations that are relevant to the challenges our local system is facing. They will be embedded within the health and care system and work with decision makers to make sure they have the right information at the right time.”

The Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows will also work in a network across England, to share evidence on research and innovations to make a difference at a national scale.

Head of NIHR Research Infrastructure, Dr Natalie Owen, said: “Ensuring that effective, evidence-based interventions and models of care reach people living with the greatest burden of disease is vital. This capacity and capability building initiative will enable the ARCs to support work at the interface of research and practice for population benefit.”

Work to appoint four Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows (one full-time and three part-time) for our region, will begin soon.

Why is knowledge mobilisation important?

Knowledge mobilisation is an iterative, long-term, and two-way process to create the conditions to enable the right people to use the right information at the right time. It involves a two-way dialogue between researchers and research users. By sharing information with and learning from each other, a deeper understanding capable of catalysing change can be achieved. It is one of the processes that facilitates and amplifies the contribution of research to real-world settings.

The NIHR is committed to maximising impact by enabling and supporting the translation of research findings into evidence-based action that transforms the lives of the public, patients, service users and carers.

Strategic leadership

As part of the funding, £599,966 has been awarded to NIHR ARC Greater Manchester (ARC-GM) to provide leadership for this initiative. ARC-GM will coordinate a strategic approach to knowledge mobilisation across the ARCs, uniting them behind an agreed vision and strategy, and measuring impact.

ARC-GM will also establish a knowledge mobilisation community among the cohort of award holders, enabling networking and sharing best practice around prioritised areas of interest.

Professor Dame Nicky Cullum, Director of NIHR ARC-GM, said: “Whilst maximising research impact is everybody’s business, this crucial initiative brings a coordinated, consistent approach to ensuring that our publicly funded research is visible, is used to support health and social care decision-making and can improve the health and care of the public. We are delighted to be leading on this work from Greater Manchester.”