Ruth Northway Emeritus professor of learning disability nursing, School of Care Sciences, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Wales
Edward Oloidi Research assistant, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Wales
Paula Phillips Senior improvement manager, Improvement Cymru, Cardiff, Wales
Stacey Rees Senior lecturer, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Wales
Why you should read this article:

• To gain insight in how to demonstrate the impact arising from your research work

• To understand the careful planning required at all stages of research to achieve impact

• To gain an overview of strategies used in one study that could be transferred to other settings

Background Several drivers are currently leading to greater emphasis of the importance of ensuring research has impact. Nursing research aims to improve patient care, safety and well-being, so it might be assumed results with the potential to effect such changes would automatically have an impact on clinical practice. However, experience suggests this is not the case and careful attention is needed for there to be an impact.

Aim To present the example of a project commissioned to develop a health communication tool to support people with learning disabilities in accessing healthcare.

Discussion The authors explore the importance of a planned approach to impact by referencing existing frameworks and providing examples of strategies used in the project. They also discuss the importance of framing the question using a range of approaches to actively engage stakeholders and of using diverse strategies to embed the development in practice.

Conclusion A planned approach is required to maximise impact from research. Planning and associated actions need to start at the very beginning of the research project and continue beyond the point of delivering the project report.

Implications for practice This paper relates to a specific context and patient group but the principles discussed are transferable to other clinical settings and patient groups.

Nurse Researcher. 32, 1, 19-26. doi: 10.7748/nr.2023.e1888

Correspondence

ruth.northway@southwales.ac.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

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