Resumen de Translational Scholarship and a Palliative Approach: Enlisting the Knowledge-As-Action Framework

Sheryl Reimer Kirkham, Gweneth Hartrick-Doane, Elisabeth Antifeau, Barbara Pesut, Pat Porterfield, Della Roberts, Kelli Stajduhar, Nicole Wikjord

• Based on a retheorized epistemology for knowledge translation (KT) that problematizes the “know-do gap” and conceptualizes the knower, knowledge, and action as inseparable, this paper describes the application of the Knowledge-As-Action Framework. When applied as a heuristic device to support an inquiry process, the framework with the metaphor of a kite facilitates a responsiveness to the complexities that characterize KT. Examples from a KT demonstration project on the integration of a palliative approach at 3 clinical sites illustrate the interrelatedness of 6 dimensions—the local context, processes, people, knowledge, fluctuating realities, and values.