Editorial Knowledge translation in the context of the Asia Pacific region The 2018 World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Congress is an important event that enables and promotes the dissemination of research evidence, leading to knowledge translation into practice. The gap between research knowledge and change in practice in response to this knowledge is often an intractable one. Changing practice may be characterised by the need to overcome the status quo, and the need to understand clearly what the research evidence recommends and in what circumstances. There will always be some limita- tions in translating research evidence to the clinical environments, rather than interpreting research findings in a controlled research environment. Knowledge translation is defined as a process of syn- thesising primary research knowledge, disseminating it, exchanging it and applying it to improve health (Cana- dian Institutes of Health Research (2007)). In each coun- try, even with a shared understanding of health service provision and clinical standards, the process of knowl- edge translation is a complex one, where numerous forms of knowledge are needed to change practice, such as experiential, tacit and strategic knowledge (Bennett, 2017). When considering a disparate region such as the Asia Pacific, the complexity of the knowledge transla- tion process in advancing occupational therapy practice across the region is multiplied. This editorial aims to encourage readers to look beyond our own shores in appreciating the significance of knowledge translation in our own broader region and the role that Australia has in contributing to the advancement in evidence based occupational therapy in this context. The WFOT Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Regional Group was formed in 2006 and currently consists of 16 member countries, including Australia. The countries in this regional group vary considerably in the size of their populations, the resources available to them, and the reach of their occupational therapy services and occupa- tional therapy educational programmes (see Table 1). Several countries are missing from Table 1 (e.g. China, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar) despite their high populations and health needs, and there remains significant development work to establish occupational therapy in these coun- tries and support this through WFOT. The challenge is huge, as five of the top 10 most populous countries in the world are located in the Asia Pacific Region (China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Whereas many Asia Pacific countries are still establish- ing WFOT-approved educational programmes to build an occupational therapy workforce to meet their local needs, Australia has a role in supporting and educating the workforce in this region. Australian universities are enrolling more international occupational therapy stu- dents, however this is not without its challenges (Yu, Brown & Farnworth, 2017). These students often need more support both within the classroom and during pro- fessional education placements to overcome language difficulties and cultural differences to meet mandatory professional competencies, including being an evidence- based practitioner. Many of these international students will return to their home countries to become leaders and advocates, playing an important role in knowledge trans- lation and the uptake of evidence-based practice. In addition to the sheer size of the Asia Pacific popula- tions (which is an obvious barrier to knowledge transla- tion), there is an enormous diversity of history, traditions, cultures and values about health and wellbe- ing represented across the Asia Pacific region. Knowl- edge created in one cultural setting may not be relevant or as valued in another setting. Furthermore, there may be limited resources available to develop new knowl- edge or implement this in occupational therapy practice that is culturally relevant. Two theories provide a way of thinking about knowledge translation across interna- tional boundaries which are relevant to the WFOT Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Regional Group. The Diffu- sion of Innovations theory (Sanson-Fisher, 2004) identifies relative advantage (how an innovation is perceived by users as better than current practice), compatibility (whether or not an innovation is consistent with occupa- tional therapy values and meets clinicians’ needs), com- plexity (how difficult it is for clinicians to understand or use the innovation), trial-ability (how clinician’s perceive that the innovation can be trialled in practice) and observability (how tangible the results are for using the innovation) as key issues to address to implement new knowledge into practice (Sanson-Fisher). The Re-AIM framework (Glasgow, Vogt & Boles, 1999) defines this process as: reach (who adheres to the innovation); © 2018 Occupational Therapy Australia Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (2018) 65, 165–167 doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12487