Advancing Knowledge Translation Practices to Accelerate Change in Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Practice: A scoping review

Abednego Musau, Lindsey Reynolds, Nabeel Petersen, Matthew Wilson, Mary Phillips, Meghan Cutherell

First published:3 September 2025 | Advancing Knowledge Translation Practices to Accelerate … | VeriXiv

This article published as a preprint in the Gates Foundation gateway on VeriXiv.

More effective knowledge translation (KT) in the field of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) could improve the speed at which effective health and behavioural interventions are delivered to young people, improving their overall health and wellbeing. Given the limited literature on KT for ASRH, this scoping review synthesizes the evidence on the barriers and facilitators to knowledge translation in ASRH in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Our review combines a rapid scoping review of relevant published and grey literature on the facilitators and barriers to knowledge translation of ASRH in LMICs, where available, and knowledge translation in health care settings and health policy making more generally, as well as key informant interviews (KIIs) with ASRH implementers, policymakers, and researchers on the factors that shape the translation of evidence to ASRH policy and practice in Africa. Two reviewers systematically used a pre-determined search string to retrieve studies in eight databases. After applying exclusion criteria, 52 full length studies were included. Researchers extracted data on the key areas of interest, including KT approaches, barriers, determinants, facilitators, key lessons, and best practices. KIIs were conducted with 22 participants. Interviews were transcribed, summarized for themes, and then analysed. Data were then re-organized into categories and key themes and organized using the KT framing device developed by Jacobson et al., (2003). Barriers and facilitators in ASRH mirror the those the health sector faces more generally for knowledge translation, such as the strength of existing knowledge management practices, the relationship between knowledge producers and consumers, and differences in the needs of knowledge producers and knowledge users.

Specific considerations for ASRH identified were an over-emphasis on research products and an under-emphasis on relationship building, the political nature of adolescent sexuality, and the need to engage more diverse voices in knowledge production and translation.