Improving Awareness and Uptake of Systems-oriented Resources for Action on Poverty and Financial Wellbeing: An Integrated KT and Evaluation Project

The COVID-19 pandemic increased financial strain and poverty, which has negative health impacts and widens health and social gaps. The worst impacts are felt among racialized peoples, women and younger people. Funded by CIHR, our international, multi-sectoral practice-research team developed a Public Health Framework and companion Guidebook. These evidence-based resources will help governments and organizations promote financial wellbeing at the population level. The Framework presents 17 areas for action. The Guidebook offers strategies and indicators to act on those areas. They are in PDF-document form, but knowledge users (KU) have strongly recommended an interactive website to better meet their needs. Our integrated knowledge translation (iKT) project aims to strengthen awareness and use of the Framework & Guidebook. We will work closely with KU to create a user-friendly website where users can seek guidance from the Framework & Guidebook tailored directly to their needs. Building on our work since 2018, we propose a participatory, multi-method project. We will: 1) work with KU to generate ideas and a website prototype; 2) refine and validate the website with a national end-user group, prioritizing equity-deserving groups; 3) co-develop end-of-grant KT strategies to share with diverse target audiences; 4) evaluate our process of working with KU and end-users to inform our work and add to the iKT literature; and 5) evaluate the project outcomes of reach, effectiveness, adoption, sustainability, and equity. Our project responds to a practice need and gaps in the academic literature. We will substantially improve awareness and uptake of these action-oriented resources among diverse end-users. This will improve their work on the design, delivery, and evaluation of programs and policies on poverty, financial strain and financial wellbeing. Our work will also address scholarly gaps on KT of systems-oriented frameworks that guide complex population-level initiatives.