Wounds Research Network (WReN) - a community of practice for improving wound care-related trials

Abstract

Poorly designed wound trials that generate knowledge that does not inform clinical practice constitute an example of research waste that undermines evidence-based healthcare. Well-designed trials that generate clinically relevant and robust knowledge are integral to improving health nationwide and achieving universal health coverage. This paper critically analyses the existing challenges associated with improving trials as well as how these challenges can be overcome through a research community of practice, such as the Wounds Research Network (WReN). Although a wide range of people have a stake in improving wound trials, they often belong to different social or professional groups that can make collaborative work challenging. In the UK, WReN demonstrates how a unifying national research community of practice can help people work together to design and conduct studies that generate knowledge that may help improve patient care. Key Message • Communities of practice such as the WReN are a useful resource for improving wound trials to generate knowledge that informs clinical practice and contributes to the establishment of universal health coverage.

Use of compression therapy to treat lower limb wounds across Europe: a scoping review protocol

“…healthcare is such that there are some aspects of care delivery which are uncertain and emergent. [10][11][12] Healthcare is delivered in a pressurised context with a complex adaptive ecology [13][14][15] with emergent, uncertain elements arising from the contingencies of clinical practice 12 which can be codified, convoluted or concatenated. Consequently, healthcare delivery is predicated on a combination of formal processes and structures such as policies as well as negotiations and adaptation throughout the patient care trajectory.…”