Knowledge Mapping as a Technique to Support Knowledge translation/La Cartographie Des Connaissances: Une Technique Facilitant L'application Du savoir/El Mapeo De Los Conocimientos Como Tecnica De Apoyo a la Translacion De Conocimientos

Introduction In the economy, the generation and exploitation of all types of play a vital role in the creation of wealth. (1) However, despite the available knowledge, mortality and morbidity from preventable causes persist, especially among poor children and women throughout the world, in part because a gap remains between what is known and the application of that in policy and practice. (2) To bridge this gap, it is crucial to understand the mechanisms of creation and use, or knowledge enterprise, at the different levels of health systems, such as policymaking, institutional management, technology RD it could be applied to information or instead of data, depending on the association of items of information the process is looking at. The most comprehensive approach to mapping examines the dynamics at play in a health system or area of work; where resources and assets are located; how these elements move around the organization or an area of work; where the elements are created; and where they are needed and should be used. To be effective, the resulting map should be created with reference to four perspectives, known as the visual framework: (5) * the function of the map (including coordination, motivation and elaboration); * the type (know what, know how, know why, know where, know who); * the recipient (individual, group, organization, network); and * the visualization type (sketch, diagram, image or map). The success of the mapping process depends to a great extent on the people who apply it; their ability to engage all the participants in the exercise, ensuring that people understand the process and are able to interpret the map; and the integration of all four perspectives in the visual framework, rather than on the tools themselves which are used to produce the map. Scott et al. (6) provide an example of a map which illustrates how mapping allows information to be conveyed in a manner that a non-illustrative approach could not. Scott et al. (6) present the result of a social network analysis performed in a primary care clinic looking at whom is consulted when significant decisions need to be made in the practice. Visualizing the result of this process makes it easier to share the information and allows a more integrated analysis of the large amount of information that could not be easily captured in a single table or piece of text and already provides some possibilities for analysis (e.g. the identification of hubs corresponding to the person who is most often consulted). Examples of application of mapping The examples from the literature can be grouped according to the health-system levels: policy-making, institutional management, technology R&D, clinical practice and services, and the community. …