Let's Talk About It: A Narrative Review of Digital Approaches for Disseminating and Communicating Health Research and Innovation

Best health practice and policy are derived from research, yet the adoption of research findings into health practice and policy continues to lag. Efforts to close this knowledge-to-action gap can be addressed through knowledge translation, which is composed of knowledge synthesis, dissemination, exchange, and application. Although all components warrant investigation, improvements in knowledge dissemination are particularly needed. Specifically, as society continues to evolve and technology becomes increasingly present in everyday life, knowing how to share research findings (with the appropriate audience, using tailored messaging, and through the right digital medium) is an important component towards improved health knowledge translation. As such, this article presents a review of digital presentation formats and communication channels that can be leveraged by health researchers, as well as practitioners and policy makers, for knowledge dissemination of health research. In addition, this article highlights a series of additional factors worth consideration, as well as areas for future direction.