Using research knowledge to improve health care
- Chief Executive Officer, National Institute of Clinical Studies, PO Box 6532, St Kilda Road Central, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; ceo@nicsl.com.au
Better connections are needed between the generation and implementation of knowledge.
In 1810 a British merchant who supplied food to the Royal Navy discovered how to preserve food safely in tin cans. The military advantages of a portable long lasting food source packaged in containers that do not break were obvious and the popularity of canned foods dramatically increased during the American Civil War. The benefits for the general population were also readily apparent and this led to further growth in the canned food industry. Yet the drive to produce and package canned food safely was not matched by an equivalent focus on safe extraction of the contents of the can. Soldiers used pocket knives, bayonets, or even rifle fire to break into cans. A can of veal taken on an Arctic expedition by the British explorer Sir William Parry carried the instruction “Cut round on the top with a chisel and hammer”. It wasn’t until nearly 50 years after the invention of tin canisters that the first patent for a can opener was issued.1
This technology lag has some remarkable similarities to the current situation with research transfer and uptake in health care. We are able to produce research—reams and …
