It has been a fascinating few weeks working on my digital project as well as attending the classes during the summer. A reminder of what I have been working on: I am developing a website/ web portfolio of my professional information, and my past and current research work. During summer, I was able to develop a website, under the kind guidance of Ethan from the Digital Studio. I am thoroughly enjoying the process, which is still ongoing, though sometimes it feels like the deeper I dig, the more there is to uncover. It does seem like I am slowly moving along.
One of the functions of my website was to make scientific knowledge (my research in Audiology) accessible to lay people or people outside my field. I did get some input on how to do this from the Studio scholarship classes, especially from how presentations are done at the Jakobson Conference. As I was developing the website, I had some questions regarding how to present my research, which I am still trying to find answers to. For instance, should I translate all my research projects into layman terms? Much of my research so far has been basic research which will be useful for Audiologists or hearing aid manufacturers to implement changes; and I wondered if anyone (other than people working on this problem) would be interested in reading about this. Thinking about this reminded me of the idea of translational research.
Sheila T. Moodie who has been studying translational research and implementation science in Audiology for 20 years defined knowledge translation as “identifying and using the best possible strategies for conducting research, synthesizing results and translating results into clinical practice so that effective and efficient health services are delivered to patients in our care”. Though I am interested in conducting research that can be incorporated in clinical care, I wondered how long it would take for my research to be translated into and be used in everyday Audiology practice. My research participants often asked me if the hearing aid we were testing currently would be soon available in the Market because they really liked it. However, it takes more than around 10 years for Audiology research to trickle down into clinic. I do not dishearten my research participants with this knowledge. However, getting back to my project, I can at least make it easier for them (my research participants and others) to read current research, which might be implemented by the time their children and grandchildren have (or maybe don’t have) age-related hearing loss.
View my video here:
Soumya Venkitakrishnan