Ruth Muscat

PhD student – Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation Science (SKIM)

Ruth Muscat, PhD student – Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation Science (SKIM)

Ruth is a health librarian currently employed part time as Clinical Librarian at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has a particular interest in enhancing the value and scope of health librarianship to enable healthcare organisations use evidence more effectively to inform policy, practice and decision-making.

Title of PhD research project

Enhancing knowledge mobilisation skills and training for health librarians: comparative case study analysis in the North East and North Cumbria

Summary of research project 

This project aims to explore what health knowledge and library specialists understand by the term ‘knowledge mobilisation’, in the contest of the broader literature around this phenomenon. It will use interviews to identify knowledge mobilisation activities currently being undertaken by health KLSs within their own organisation and across healthcare sectors, and identify gaps where such activities could be expanded with the right skills and support. Information gained will enhance understanding of the role this demographic plays in the bigger picture of knowledge mobilisation in large organisations such as hospital trusts, tertiary healthcare, local authority public health and health charities. Results will facilitate recommendations about the best ways to support health and care knowledge and library specialists to expand their knowledge mobilisation workstreams, thus identifying the best ways to upskill them, expand their role and increase their value to their organisation.

Expected PhD completion date

September 2024

Host university

Northumbria University

Email address

[email protected]