Knowledge translation in the area of diet and health is challenging due to the range of vested interests in the food sector and the contested discourse on food, diet and health among policy makers, practitioners, media and the general public. There is considerable agreement on key food policy measures open to government with potential for positive impacts on health outcomes. Unfortunately, scientific consensus does not ensure translation of evidence into practice or policy. The HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research (CHDR) proposes to extend and enhance its ongoing work on integrated knowledge translation (iKT). The focus of the proposed iKT activities will be on: i) iKT capacity building within the CHDR, through placement of two early career CHDR scientists to the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and a relevant CIHR institute; ii) national iKT placements for PhD students to the Department of Health and other relevant agencies; iii) joint iKT strategy development with key partner organisations; iv) the development of an open online module in iKT concepts and methods, targeting health researchers and interested policy makers in Ireland; v) the development of an open online module on healthy eating, drawing on CHDR outputs and relevant international research evidence, targeting and accessible to the general public, media, practitioners and policy makers and vi) the appointment of an iKT Advisor/Blog Editor to promote the online learning resources, set up a CHDR Blog, promote key CHDR outputs and establish a regular series of policy briefs for government, other stakeholders and media.
