Learning to lead: a review and synthesis of literature examining health care managers' use of knowledge:

BackgroundScholarship cites health care managers (HCMs) as not using research evidence in their management practice. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to enhance HCMs use of research evidence in practice.MethodsWe carried out a systematic review and focus groups to validate the review findings. We searched 10 electronic databases for studies reporting on interventions for HCMs to enhance research utilization in their practice. Qualitative studies were analysed using Hoon’s approach to meta-synthesis.ResultsSeven, primarily qualitative, studies of varying quality (reported in 11 articles) met our inclusion criteria. Interventions to enhance research use by HCMs included: informal and formal training, computer-based application, executive-level knowledge translation activities and residency programmes. Studies did not report efficacy of interventions or impacts of increasing managers’ use of research on staff or patient outcomes. Meta-synthesis yielded four contex...