Dissemination Toolkits

This section contains toolkits that assist with planning for research dissemination and developing a dissemination plan.

Developing a dissemination plan will help to facilitate the uptake and translation of research into practice. A robust dissemination plan will help you think about the process of disseminating research findings and requires identifying what will be disseminated, to whom, and through which channels, determining measures of success, and a comprehensive work plan.¹

• PCORI Dissemination & Implementation Toolkit – Includes D&I best practices in dissemination guidelines and strategies, including worksheets for dissemination planning and study “spotlights”  to provide users with real-world examples of dissemination planning.
• AHRQ – Advances in Patient Safety; Dissemination Planning Tool: Exhibit A from Vol. 4 – Developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, includes step-by-step guidance and tools for developing a dissemination plan.
• Communicating Your Research – A Toolkit (The Health Foundation, UK) – Online module that provides step-by-step dissemination and communication planning, dissemination, and implementation; Includes dissemination planning templates and examples.
• Beyond Scientific Publication: Strategies for Disseminating Research Findings (Yale CARE) – Provides guidance on developing a dissemination plan and key strategies for dissemination; Includes a dissemination planning worksheet and examples of dissemination products.
• Exchanging Knowledge: A Research Dissemination Toolkit (Univ. of Regina CRU) – Provides guidance on creating a dissemination plan including a dissemination plan worksheet and brief descriptions of some dissemination strategies.
• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Aggregate Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Guidance Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for creating summaries for aggregate study findings; Includes helpful templates, checklists, and examples of plain language summaries.
• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Individual Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Recommendations Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for returning individual study results to research participants; Includes dissemination planning figures for determining which individual findings should be returned and when, as well as planning tools and case studies.
• NASEM – Returning Individual Results to Research Participants: Full Book – Reviews the current evidence on the benefits, harms, and costs of returning individual research results, while considering the ethical, social, operational, and regulatory aspects of the practice. Recommendations document can be found here.
• Community-Centered Dissemination Toolkit: Design, Plan, Implement, Evaluation (University of Minnesota) – A resource designed to help research teams incorporate community-engaged principles into dissemination. Includes dissemination planning worksheets.
• Dissemination Toolkit (Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE)) – Use this toolkit as a guide to disseminate a project’s work. Includes resources for planning communication and dissemination strategies and for learning about different dissemination methods and approaches.
• Create a Dissemination Plan (Virginia Commonwealth University) – A dissemination website that offers a basic overview of dissemination, including dissemination plan examples and a template.

Global Health focus:

• Communications Handbook for Clinical Trials (US AID collaborative) – Provides guidance on creating a dissemination plan, as well as dissemination plan examples, a dissemination case study, and sample letters.
• IDRC – The Knowledge Translation Toolkit – Provides exhaustive dissemination planning resources, such as helpful figures, real-world examples, and a communication strategy checklist.
• WHO Implementation Research Toolkit – Online module that includes dissemination planning and a few case studies and examples of visualizing study data.

This section contains toolkits that assist with summarizing research findings and developing products to disseminate, such as a Plain Language Summaries, Policy Briefs, Reports, Infographics, and Press Releases.

• Dissemination of Rural Health Research: A Toolkit (Rural Health Research Gateway) – Applies more broadly to research dissemination of all clinical and translational research; Rich resource for various dissemination products with examples of each.
• Beyond Scientific Publication: Strategies for Disseminating Research Findings (Yale CARE) – Provides guidance on developing a dissemination plan and key strategies for dissemination; Includes a dissemination planning worksheet and examples of dissemination products.
• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Aggregate Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Guidance Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for creating summaries for aggregate study findings; Includes helpful templates, checklists, and examples of plain language summaries.
• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Individual Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Recommendations Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for returning individual study results to research participants; Includes dissemination planning figures for determining which individual findings should be returned  and when, as well as planning tools and case studies.
• NASEM – Returning Individual Results to Research Participants: Full Book – Comprehensive consensus study report that reviews the current evidence on the benefits, harms, and costs of returning individual research results, while considering the ethical, social, operational, and regulatory aspects of the practice. Recommendations document can be found here.
• Health Bucks Program Evaluation Toolkit (NYC/CDC Div. of Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity) – Includes brief dissemination strategy tools such as a dissemination checklist, and a few examples of dissemination products.

Global Health focus:

• Communications Handbook for Clinical Trials (US AID collaborative) – Provides guidance on creating a dissemination plan, examples, a dissemination case study, and sample letters.
• IDRC – The Knowledge Translation Toolkit – Provides exhaustive dissemination planning resources, such as helpful figures, real-world examples, and a communication strategy checklist.

This section contains toolkits that assist with returning aggregate-level or overall study findings to study participants and the general public.

• Dissemination of Rural Health Research: A Toolkit (Rural Health Research Gateway) – Applies more broadly to research dissemination of all clinical and translational research; Rich resource for various dissemination products with examples of each.
• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Aggregate Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Guidance Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for creating summaries for aggregate study findings; Includes helpful templates, checklists, and examples of plain language summaries.
• PCORI Dissemination & Implementation Toolkit – Includes D&I best practices in dissemination guidelines and strategies, including worksheets for dissemination planning and study “spotlights”  to provide users with real-world examples of dissemination planning.
• AHRQ – Advances in Patient Safety; Dissemination Planning Tool: Exhibit A from Vol. 4 – Developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, includes step-by-step guidance and tools for developing a dissemination plan.
• Communicating Your Research – A Toolkit (The Health Foundation, UK) – Online module that provides step-by-step dissemination and communication planning, dissemination, and implementation; Includes dissemination planning templates and examples.
• Beyond Scientific Publication: Strategies for Disseminating Research Findings (Yale CARE) – Provides guidance on developing a dissemination plan and key strategies for dissemination; Includes a dissemination planning worksheet and examples of dissemination products.
• Exchanging Knowledge: A Research Dissemination Toolkit (Univ. of Regina CRU) – Provides guidance on creating a dissemination plan including a dissemination plan worksheet and brief descriptions of some dissemination strategies.
• Health Bucks Program Evaluation Toolkit (NYC/CDC Div. of Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity) – Includes brief dissemination strategy tools such as a dissemination checklist, and a few examples of dissemination products.

Global Health focus:

• Communications Handbook for Clinical Trials (US AID collaborative) – Provides guidance on creating a dissemination plan, as well as dissemination plan examples, a dissemination case study, and sample letters.
• IDRC – The Knowledge Translation Toolkit – Provides exhaustive dissemination planning resources, such as helpful figures, real-world examples, and a communication strategy checklist.
• WHO Implementation Research Toolkit – Online module that includes dissemination planning and a few case studies and examples of visualizing study data.

This section contains toolkits that assist with returning individual-level research findings back to study participants.

• MRCT Center of BWH and Harvard Return of Individual Results to Participants – Includes Principles, Recommendations Document, and Toolkit (see “Deliverables”). Toolkit includes hands-on tools for returning individual study results to research participants; Includes dissemination planning figures for determining which individual findings should be returned  and when, as well as planning tools and case studies.
• NASEM – Returning Individual Results to Research Participants: Full Book (Biospecimen Results) – Reviews the current evidence on the benefits, harms, and costs of returning individual research results, while considering the ethical, social, operational, and regulatory aspects of the practice. Recommendations document can be found here.