Principal Investigator: Doug Bedsaul
The NRTC embraces the current trend toward Knowledge Translation (KT) as a guiding principal for applied research. The goal of KT activities is to ensure that promising research results are communicated to stakeholders who can use the findings to improve practices, policies, and outcomes. Using KT concepts, the NRTC seeks to translate the results of research findings to a variety of audiences.
Development of outputs useful to a variety of stakeholder audiences is an important part of each RRTC research project. Target audiences include:
- Individuals who are blind or visually impaired and their representatives
- VR counselors
- Low Vision Therapists
- Teachers of the Visually Impaired
- Orientation and Mobility specialists
- Other researchers
- Employers
- University professors
- Policymakers
- Administrators
KT products for the RRTC’s current projects encompass a wide range of outputs, including:
- Presentations at national consumer and professional conferences
- Continuing education courses available online
- State of the Science conference, hosted by the NRTC in April 2014
- Peer-reviewed articles
- Evidence-based training materials and guidelines
Other approaches to effective dissemination include brief articles in newsletters and publications of organizations that focus on blindness and low vision, integration of research findings into staff presentations within educational settings, and the creation of the National Technical Assistance Center on Blindness and Visual Impairment (NTAC-BVI) website, which houses many research project outputs.