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Students build knowledge‑mobilization skills in partnership with national children’s pain management network

SKIP meets Pulse, Dal’s health innovation sandbox

- May 20, 2021

Dal-based Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) is a national knowledge mobilization network that aims to improve children's pain management. (Ketut Subiyanto photo/Pexels)
Dal-based Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) is a national knowledge mobilization network that aims to improve children's pain management. (Ketut Subiyanto photo/Pexels)

It can take up to 17 years for research findings to make it into practice in hospitals and clinics.

Dal-based is a national knowledge mobilization network looking to change that and get evidence-based pediatric pain management techniques into the hands of those who need them sooner.

The non-profit recently partnered with , ÈâÈ⴫ý’s health innovation sandbox, to offer a program engaging students from multiple disciplines in a semester-long knowledge mobilization program.

Students from Dal and Mount Saint Vincent University received four weeks of knowledge-mobilization training before a final challenge that required participants to develop and present specific plans for supporting SKIP’s work.

Pulse aims to promote a creative and innovative mindset by providing a space for experimentation of new ideas in a low-risk environment, while also giving access to resources, support,Ìýand mentorship, which made a partnership with SKIP seamless.

“I love it,� one participant said. “The program was very useful and helpful. It complemented my degree and provided practical skills for my future career.�

Tackling real-world challenges


The knowledge-mobilization challenge offered three options for participants to choose from, related to helping children with pain while at school, information about using numbing cream for needle-pokes, and how to activate and engage more “Pain Champions� across Canada.

This program involved teaching students about the basics of knowledge mobilization and how to apply them to real-world challenges. Throughout the program, students were taught techniques on how to appropriately bring peer-reviewed information to the public in an accessible, engaging, and effective manner.

These techniques included distinguishing key stakeholders and user groups, outlining the goals of their knowledge-translation product and identifying what knowledge-translation strategies align best with their goals.

Challenge winners:

Ninh Kuong, ÈâÈ⴫ý Master’s Student (Pharmacology)






Irene Euodia, ÈâÈ⴫ý Undergraduate Student (Microbiology & Immunology, and Neuroscience)


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Ting Xiong, ÈâÈ⴫ý Master’s Student (Psychiatry)

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