Knowledge Translation Training and Resources

The Knowledge Translation (KT) Program hosts four unique training workshops; each workshop is offered in person and online at different times in the year. The program also offers a variety of tools and resources, many of which can be downloaded for free.

In this section:

Specialist Knowledge Translation Training^TM (SKTT)

Are you a scientist, educator, policy maker or knowledge translation (KT) professional?

Do you want to know more about why KT is relevant?

Do you need to know how to develop and evaluate a KT plan?

Could you benefit from practical KT training?

SKTT is a workshop intended for those interested in sharing research knowledge with audiences beyond the academic community. The workshop was designed to teach the unique skillset associated with KT practice. This includes understanding how to increase the impact potential of research, building practical KT planning skills, as well as skills required to communicate with a variety of audiences.

The workshop is appropriate for scientists (basic, clinical, health services, population health) as well as educators, clinicians and KT professionals (e.g., KT Specialists, KT Managers, Knowledge Brokers). While the focus is on health, the material is highly relevant to individuals working in other sectors.

Participants will be able to:

Define KT and related terms
Describe the relevance of KT in their context and role
Identify strategies for sharing evidence and engaging multiple knowledge user audiences
Use KT planning tools and resources to develop a KT plan (e.g., KT Planning Template©, KT Game©)

Register for Virtual January 2024 SKTT.
Registration is first come, first served. Courses typically fill up in the first week after registration opens.

Online workshop

$650 CAD
$200 for SickKids staff, students, and volunteers
Includes: course materials and tools; access to our online collaborative platform

In-person workshop

$825 CAD
$300 for SickKids staff, students, and volunteers
Includes: course materials and tools; access to our online collaborative platform; continental breakfasts, lunches, and snacks

Upcoming SKTT sessions:

January 15–17, 2025 (online)
April 23–25, 2025 (online)
September 18–19, 2025 (in-person)

The KT Program at SickKids has partnered with Research Impact Academy to offer a tailored SKTT™ curriculum relevant to the Australian context. In Fall 2016, the three inaugural SKTT™ Australia workshops were held in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.

Interested in SKTT™ Australia?

Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate™ (KTPC)

A five-day professional development certificate course for knowledge brokers
and other KT Professionals

KTPC is a five day professional development workshop for KT practitioners working across disciplines. The curriculum is delivered as a composite of didactic and interactive teaching, with a focus on KT practice and application. It focuses on the core competencies of KT work in Canada, as identified by a survey of knowledge translation practitioners (Barwick et al., 2010). KTPC™ has been recognized as a Leading Practice by Accreditation Canada since 2013 and is fully accredited by the Continuing Professional Development Office at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine.

This workshop is appropriate for KT professionals (knowledge brokers, KT specialists, KT managers, and other professionals with a significant KT focus) working across all sectors (e.g., health, education, prevention/promotion, agriculture and others).

KTPC™ supports participants to achieve the following:

Improve their confidence and ability to carry out knowledge translation activities (e.g., networking, building partnerships, selecting KT strategies, creating knowledge products, advocating for KT, etc.)
Acquire and apply new knowledge and skills for KT planning
Develop and present a completed KT plan based on their current work

Establish short-term, post-workshop KT goals and develop a plan to achieve them

Online course

$2,500 CAD
Includes: course materials and tools; access to our online collaborative platform; University of Toronto Continuing Professional Development (CPD) certificate

In-person course

$2,800 CAD
Includes: course materials and tools; access to our online collaborative platform; University of Toronto Continuing Professional Development (CPD) certificate; breakfasts, lunches, refreshments; networking dinner with participants and faculty

SickKids Staff

We reserve one free spot in each session for a SickKids staff member.
SickKids staff are encouraged to apply for funding via the SCPDF program in case there are numerous internal applicants.
Please review SCPDF application deadlines and information on the internal mySickKids site.

We are no longer accepting applications to the in-person KTPC in October 2024. The application portal and link will be open and available 2-3 months before the next KTPC (March 2025).
Applicants will be notified of the status of their application within one month of the application deadline.
A completed application, including supervisor endorsement, is required.

Upcoming KTPC Sessions

March 17–21, 2025 (in-person)
June 16–24, 2025 (online)
October 27–31, 2025 (in-person)

Apply for the March 17 — March 21, 2025 KTPC session.
Applications are due January 10, 2025. Successful applicants will be notified about the status of their application by January 21, 2025.

Planning for Implementation Practice™ (PIP)

Are you looking to implement a new practice, intervention or innovation?

Do you need to develop an implementation plan, but you’re not sure where to start?

Implementing evidence-based innovations in practice is a complex process. The goal of implementation science is to make this effort more successful, but with dozens of implementation theories, models, and frameworks in the literature, it can be challenging to know how to move forward.

The Planning for Implementation Practice© (PIP) workshop offers a practical approach to developing an implementation plan and is applicable to all innovations, practice settings, and sectors. PIP covers the core elements of implementation with a focus on learning and planning. Participants will be guided by The Implementation Roadmap© (TIR), a step-by-step planning tool for implementers in real-world practice settings. Each participant will receive a digital and hard copy of the TIR© resource.

The PIP workshop is for anyone who is implementing evidence in real-world settings. This includes:

People working in organizations that are supporting an implementation initiative (intermediary/purveyor organizations)
Knowledge brokers, knowledge translation/mobilization professionals
Researchers
Leaders of organizations

If you want to learn about the application of implementation science in practice and how to plan for implementation in your setting, this workshop is for you.

To get the most out of this workshop, we recommend coming with an implementation project or experience in mind, whether past, present, or future.

Participants will:

Gain a foundational understanding of implementation science
Define implementation and related terms
Describe the five essential components of implementation planning
Apply the The Implementation Roadmap© to their initiative or case study example

Melanie Barwick (PhD, CPsych)

Melanie is the course founder and director. She is a Senior Scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences Program of the SickKids Research Institute and a Registered Psychologist. She is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Melanie joined SickKids in 2001. Her program of research focuses on implementation science and knowledge translation.

Jacquie Brown (MES, RSW)

Jacquie is an international Implementation Consultant, Implementation Lead at School Mental Health Ontario, and Past Director for the Child and Family Evidence-based Practice Consortium. As an implementation practitioner, Jacquie is involved in implementing evidence-based practices and best practices in the health care, education, and community-based services sectors. She is also involved in implementing the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program in Europe, Australia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Online workshop

$700 CAD
$300 for SickKids staff, students, and volunteers
Includes: The Implementation Roadmap©

Registration for May 2025 will open in March 2025. The registration link will be posted here.

Upcoming Dates:

May 7-8, 2025
Nov 2025 (TBD)

Storytelling: How to tell the story of your work

Storytelling is a powerful knowledge-sharing tool that helps you connect with your audience, get your message across, and be memorable—at conferences, retreats, meetings, and anywhere you speak about your work. It helps you describe the impact of your work to funders and the general public, or develop knowledge translation products, such as videos.

This six-hour storytelling workshop takes participants on a journey, from understanding how our brains respond to stories, to learning how to develop a strong and captivating story using The 6-Step Story Planning Template©.

This workshop is for anyone who wants to tell a story about their work, including:

Knowledge translation practitioners (knowledge brokers, KT specialists)
Researchers
Research staff
Communications specialists
Policy analysts
Educators
Clinicians
Students

Class size: approximately 20 people

Participants will:

Explore the art of storytelling as a method to communicate their work, engage others, and inspire action
Examine real examples of stories that have been developed based on scientific projects and annual reports
Debunk five myths of science storytelling
Learn how to prepare, structure, and tell a story well
Discuss the importance of considering/measuring a story’s impact
Be inspired to use storytelling for professional communication

Renira Narrandes, MA, M.Sc.(OT), MPH, is a storyteller, spoken word artist and knowledge translation specialist who has performed in North America, Europe, on TV, in podcasts and at academic conferences and events. She has a background in journalism (MA 2008), occupational therapy (M.Sc. OT 2011) and public health (MPH 2015) and has trained hundreds of clinicians, researchers, people living with conditions and others on how to tell stories.

Renira is the Knowledge Translation Program Manager at SickKids and is excited to add her storytelling workshops to the program.

Online workshop

$300 CAD
$150 CAD for SickKids staff, students, and volunteers
Includes: The 6-Step Story Planning Template©

In-person workshop

$350 CAD
$200 CAD for SickKids staff, students, and volunteers
Includes: The 6-Step Story Planning Template©; lunch and refreshments

The online registration portal opens about two months before the workshop.
We email the registration link to everyone on our email communication list. Please email knowledge.translation@sickkids.ca if you want to be added to the list.
For questions about the workshop, please email Renira Narrandes.
Registration is first come, first served. Courses typically fill up in the first week after registration opens.

Upcoming storytelling workshops

November 21, 2024 (in person)
May 2025 (TBD)

Storytelling is (almost) always better in person; however, we recognize that offering courses online allows more people to participate. We plan to offer both online and in-person storytelling workshops.

New and improved!

eLearning Module: Introduction to Knowledge Translation

The first in the series of KT eLearning modules, Introduction to Knowledge Translation, will introduce you to the concept of KT and get you thinking about how KT can be useful in your work. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in closing the research to practice gap and is applicable across sectors and disciplines. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to describe KT and related terms, discuss the value of KT and KT planning, and access various KT resources. Estimated duration: 15 minutes Access to the module is free but requires registration to the SickKids Academy Online platform. SickKids staff are able to complete this module on the internal iLearn platform.

New and improved!

eLearning Module: How to Prepare a Knowledge Translation Plan

The second in the series of KT eLearning modules, How to Prepare a Knowledge Translation Plan, uses case-based learning to examine the key elements of building a KT dissemination plan using our Knowledge Translation Planning Template© (KTPT) framework. Upon completion of this module, you will be able to use the KTPT© to prepare a KT dissemination plan and work through the key components of KT planning in a step-by-step manner that will guide your KT activities. Estimated duration: 35 min Access to the module is free but requires registration to the SickKids Academy Online platform. SickKids staff are able to complete this module on the internal iLearn platform.

Knowledge Translation Planning Template

The Knowledge Translation Planning Template© supports comprehensive knowledge translation (KT) planning. The template is universally applicable across sectors. Working through the template step by step will help you address the essential components of the KT planning process. The template is available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Knowledge Translation Plan Appraisal Tool

Grant reviewers are often tasked with evaluating the quality of a proposed KT plan within a research proposal. The KT Plan Appraisal Tool (KT-PAT) helps assess the quality of a KT plan based on three main criteria: comprehensiveness, alignment and feasibility. Although the intended users of the KT-PAT are grant reviewers, individuals can also use it to determine the quality of their own KT plan for the purpose of improving it.

KT Companion Tool

The KTPT Companion Tool helps shape the content of the KT plan you created using the Knowledge Translation Planning Template©. It allows you to put your KT plan into prose, which can be inserted into a research proposal or a project plan.

The KT Game ©

The KT Game © is a teaching and planning tool that can help you and your team develop a KT plan using a comprehensive card game. Playing the KT Game© is an engaging way to make KT planning visual, tactile and fun. The game can be played in order to develop KT planning skills or it can be used with a project team to begin the KT planning process. To book a facilitated session, contact Renira Narrandes, Program Manager, Knowledge Translation.

The Implementation Roadmap

Implementation is a complex process with many moving parts. The Implementation Roadmap© (TIR) simpliﬁes the process into five main elements from implementation science to provide an implementation learning and planning experience. TIR is relevant to any discipline because the concepts are high-level. The tool, which includes a poster and workbook, is currently being revised. Please return in early 2023 to access the new version.

KTPC Casebook: Building KT Friendly Organizations in Healthcare and Beyond

The casebook offers insight to those who are looking to build or strengthen internal capacity for knowledge translation (KT). Ten cases are written by alumni of our Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate™ (KTPC) course representing a variety of sectors (consulting, non-profit, academia, education, health care) and a variety of organization types (research, funders, hospitals, public sector). Each case describes the organization's KT program, their KT team, incentives and opportunities that enabled KT growth, barriers to KT and how they were overcome, practical tools, and insight on the future role and value of KT professionals. The casebook aims to identify key ingredients that make an organization KT-friendly and empower the readers to create or improve their own KT programs.

Plain Language Checklist

Plain language techniques can be used in most professional settings and situations. Using plain language ensures that your audience can understand your message the first time they read or hear it. The Plain Language Checklist was developed to guide the development of a message that incorporates plain language and KT principles.

Knowledge Translation Stories

Traditionally, new discoveries are only shared through scientific publications. At SickKids, researchers recognize the importance of sharing and their findings with many different groups using a variety of strategies.

Research findings should be communicated so that everyone can understand and use them to improve health and health care services. For example, parents should know about current research so they can advocate for their children’s health, and health-care providers need to know about recent discoveries that might affect how they deliver care.

These KT stories share some of the work that goes on at SickKids. Researchers, health care providers and educators talk about what their work means for parents, health care professionals, policy makers, other researchers and society as a whole.