Getting to uptake: do communities of practice support the implementation of evidence-based practice?

INTRODUCTION Practitioners are increasingly encouraged to adopt evidence-based practices (EBP) leading to a need for new knowledge translation strategies to support implementation and practice change. This study examined the benefits of a community of practice in the context of Ontario's children's mental health sector where organizations are mandated to adopt a standardized outcome measure to monitor client response to treatment. METHOD Readiness for change, practice change, content knowledge, and satisfaction with and use of implementation supports were examined among practitioners newly trained on the measure who were randomly assigned to a community of practice (CoP) or a practice as usual (PaU) group. CoP practitioners attended 6 sessions over 12 months; PaU practitioners had access to usual implementation supports. RESULTS Groups did not differ on readiness for change or reported practice change, although CoP participants demonstrated greater use of the tool in practice, better content knowledge and were more satisfied with implementation supports than PaU participants. CONCLUSION CoPs present a promising model for translating EBP knowledge and promoting practice change in children's mental health that requires further study.