ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to explore some of the general issues that have an impact on the ability of health care practitioners to use research in their practice. In the previous chapter it was suggested that not all practitioners will be or should be active researchers. By this it was meant that not all would go out and collect data using the systematic process of research outlined earlier. Indeed if all practitioners were to do this it would create major problems in health care as such a scenario would mean that perhaps all patients or clients requiring care would be expected to participate in research, which is not an ideal situation. However, as indicated earlier, all health care practitioners should incorporate research-based knowledge into their practice. To do this they need to be research aware, to know how to access and use research in practice. From this perspective we will begin to consider specific skills required in research in this chapter and focus on the skills related to research awareness. This includes a review of the following:
Factors affecting research awareness.
Research and knowledge of research.
Utilising research awareness in practice.
