ABSTRACT
Knowledge brokering is defined as an activity involving intermediaries (individuals, organizations, and networks) that act as “connectors,” or liaison agents, between the producers and users of new knowledge (Dobbins et al., 2009). This chapter provides an overview of knowledge brokering in the digital age in the context of the health sector in Canada. Despite the proliferation of theoretical and inductive research that has examined knowledge brokering, there are still some questions need to be answered, inspired by the works and conclusions of Ward et al. (2009a) and Dobbins et al. (2009): what technologies are used by knowledge brokers, what interactions are initiated with the stakeholders involved, and what about the effectiveness of knowledge brokering? Drawing from a robust literature review and based on a survey of a representative sample of knowledge brokers using web 2.0 social networks, our investigation attempts to measure the challenges and the determinants of knowledge brokering, with the aim of helping healthcare
CONTENTS
20.1 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 417 20.2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 418 20.3 General Approach to Knowledge Brokerage, Theory, and Definitions ..................... 419 20.4 Public Health-Related Survey, the Data, and Data Analysis ....................................... 421
20.4.1 Survey Results, Findings, and Interpretations ..................................................423 20.4.1.1 Instruments of Health-Related Knowledge Dissemination.............. 424 20.4.1.2 Beneficiaries of Knowledge Brokerage ................................................. 424 20.4.1.3 Networking and Interactions of Knowledge Brokers ........................425 20.4.1.4 Perceived Impacts of New Knowledge on Decision-Making
Process ......................................................................................................426 20.4.1.5 Determinants of the Perceived Impacts ...............................................427
20.5 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................429 References .....................................................................................................................................430
policy makers and researchers and allow them to better understand the process behind knowledge brokering. Our empirical finding characterizes knowledge brokering activities (e.g., behaviors, interactions, brokerage instruments used, and target audience), identifies the individual attributes of knowledge brokers (age, gender, experience, training, and preferences), specifies the types of knowledge shared, and assesses the perceived effectiveness of knowledge brokering on the performance of healthcare organizations, as well their leeway in public health interventions and decision making, in Quebec, Canada. Filling a gap in knowledge brokering research, our findings illustrate the nature of knowledge brokering in healthcare organizations and demonstrate that its effectiveness is proportionate to (i) the quality of knowledge exchanged, (ii) the intensity of interactions initiated with the stakeholders, and (iii) the degree of connectivity brokers have in web 2.0 social networks.
