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Communities of practice to improve public health outcomes: a systematic review

Liza Barbour (Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Australia)
Rebecca Armstrong (The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia)
Patrick Condron (The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia)
Claire Palermo (Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Notting Hill, Australia)

Journal of Knowledge Management

ISSN: 1367-3270

Article publication date: 21 February 2018

Issue publication date: 27 March 2018

1462

Abstract

Purpose

Communities of practice (CoPs) exist to enable people to share knowledge, innovate and progress a common field of practice. This paper aims to identify whether CoPs have a measured impact on public health practice and the tools used to measure the impact and potential barriers and facilitators that may have been identified during the implementation of these CoPs.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review of the literature was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Searches of six databases, Google Scholar and a citation search were completed. Included studies were from 1986 to 2016, involved the public health workforce and an evaluation of a CoP -like intervention. A narrative synthesis of the findings was conducted.

Findings

From 3,021 publications, 12 studies met inclusion criteria and described the impact of ten CoPs amongst public health practitioners from America, Canada, Australasia and the United Kingdom. CoPs support the prevention workforce to change their practice when they provide structured problem-solving, reflective practice and networking opportunities. None of the studies described the impact of CoPs on public health outcomes.

Practical implications

CoPs that provide structured problem-solving, reflective practice and diverse networking may effectively support the public health workforce. Existing methods used to evaluate CoPs lack rigour; thus, the true impact of CoPs on population health remains unknown.

Originality/value

This is the first known systematic review that has measured the impact of CoPs on the preventative health workforce and the conditions in which they have an impact.

Keywords

Citation

Barbour, L., Armstrong, R., Condron, P. and Palermo, C. (2018), "Communities of practice to improve public health outcomes: a systematic review", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 326-343. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2017-0111

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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