IFSYNC Meeting: 2012, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
From 2011-2015, I have had the privilege to work with Principal Investigator, Dr. Fabie Duhamel, professor at University of Montreal and Director of the Center for Excellence in Family Nursing, to coordinate an International Family Systems Nursing Collaboration (IFSYNC) research group focused on knowledge translation (KT) of Family Systems Nursing (FSN) to practice settings.
The first meeting of this invited research group took place in Montreal in October 2012. Researchers and knowledge-users from 6 countries (Canada, Iceland, Japan, Sweden, Thailand, USA) were invited to join a discussion about using KT science to examine the implementation of family nursing in practice settings. The meeting was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society, and the Center of Excellence in Family Nursing. The intent of the meeting was to develop an international research agenda to examine how we can more effectively implement FSN in practice settings around the world. I served as the facilitator at this exciting meeting and curated a list of selected literature to orient myself and our group members to the conceptual and methodological issues related to KT in family nursing (read more).
This important work requires partnerships, collaboration, and strong relationships between researchers and knowledge-users. It also expands the research agenda by experimenting with a variety of educational intervention strategies with and for practicing nurses to insure implementation family nursing in daily practice AND goes up a systems level to recognize that even well-educated nurses with great skills training and supervision, can’t alone make the difference that needs to happen in our health care systems in order for family focused care to be realized. Perhaps accounting for the facilitating and constraining barriers within the larger health care system will help practice change with families be supported and sustained. The Montreal meeting inspired our group to begin planning for a multi-site and perhaps multi-national KT study or studies.
2nd IFSYNC Meeting: 2013, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Our IFSYNC Research Group met again at the 11th International Family Nursing Conference in Minneapolis on June 18, 2013 to discuss the progress we are making across the 6 member countries. Two new members from Switzerland and Spain joined us. An update about an innovative KT methodology developed by Fabie Duhamel (Principal Investigator) and her colleague, France Dupuis, was discussed.
3rd IFSYNC Meeting: 2015, Odense, Denmark
The IFSYNC group, with representation from 7 countries (Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA) met prior to the 12th International Family Nursing conference in Odense, Denmark on August 17, 2015 to provide more opportunities for discussion and collaboration about research in Family Systems Nursing. A research team from Denmark joined our IFSYNC group. They are involved in an RCT which examines family and nurse outcomes of a Family Systems Nursing educational intervention with cardiac care nurses.
A IFSYNC Research Activities diagram was proposed by Fabie Duhamel, RN, PhD, and France Dupuis, RN, PhD, as a way to think about the various types of Family Systems Nursing research that is being conducted by IFSYNC members distinguished by the end use: PRACTICE (Knowledge Translation Research); EDUCATION (Family Systems Nursing Education Intervention Research); and THEORY (Family Systems Nursing Intervention Research).
Fabie Duhamel and France Dupuis offered a pre-conference workshop on August 18, 2015 at the 12th International Family Nursing Conference: Planning Family Systems Nursing Knowledge Translation Research Projects. Where to Start?
In the meantime, several collaborative multi-site research proposals were developed involving several members of IFSYNC. These initial proposals were, unfortunately, not funded but the experience was invaluable. Subsequently there are have been several successfully funded knowledge translation/knowledge transfer projects conducted in several countries (i.e., Iceland, Switzerland, USA).
Expert Lecture at IFNC13
In 2017 at the 13th International Family Nursing Conference, Fabie Duhamel presented an Expert Lecture on knowledge translation research. Highlights from this lecture were published: Duhamel, F. (2017). Translating knowledge from a Family Systems Approach to clinical practice: Insights from knowledge translation research experiences. Journal of Family Nursing, 23, 461-487. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074840717739030
Preconference Workshop at IFNC14
In 2019, at the 14th International Family Nursing Conference, Fabie Duhamel co-presented a Preconference Workshop with Lorraine Wright titled: Two “Hidden” Social Determinants of Family Health: What are they and How May we Facilitate the Translation of this Knowledge into Clinical Teaching/Practice? Fabie Duhamel offered a framework to guide knowledge translation of family nursing theory to practice settings.
More Knowledge Translation (KT) Resources:
I have curated and maintain a Knowledge Translation in Family Nursing Bibliography: Research Reports, Instruments, and Conceptual Articles [Learn more]