Barriers to dissemination and translation of the findings of research projects can occur in a number of places along the continuum from completion of the project to its dissemination into the scientific literature and translation into practice and policy. For instance, given the extreme shortage of faculty in schools of nursing and increasing demands on faculty time, [1, 2] nurse scientists must have the skills, tools, and support to disseminate their research findings in a timely manner into high-quality nursing and interdisciplinary journals. Another barrier is the difficulty of publishing the results of well-designed and adequately-powered efficacy studies when the null hypothesis is not rejected even though the information might be useful in refining future research directions. Indeed, several meta-analyses of self-management programs for chronic disease suggest that publication bias exists in this body of literature. [3, 4] In terms of dissemination and translation into practice, the health care literature documents that, even decades after conclusive evidence of benefits of a medical treatment have been published, e.g., beta blockers for patients recovering from heart attack or lowering cholesterol in coronary artery disease, many patients fail to receive the benefit of these advancements. [5] Although these same types of figures are not available for self-management interventions, the problem is widely acknowledged. An additional barrier to translation of self-management research findings into policy is the lack of economic analyses to accompany the efficacy and effectiveness data. [6] This barrier is addressed through the economic analysis training activities that are described in the Design, Methods, Biostatistics, and Economic Analysis Core. We address the remaining issues through the services and resources of the Dissemination and Translation Core.
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