Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Health Promotion Perspectives 2228-6497 2 2 2012 12 31 Factors that Facilitate and Impede Effective Knowledge Translation in Population Health Promotion: Results from a Consultation Workshop in Iran 126 135 10.5681/hpp.2012.015 EN Shahin Shooshtari Journal Article 10.5681/hpp.2012.015 2012 10 21 Background: The workshop that this paper reports, held in Iran in May of 2011, at the 1st Interna¬tional and 4th National Congress on Health Education and Promotion, had three main objec¬tives: 1) to introduce participants to the knowledge translation (KT) concept, along with its models and methods; 2) to enhance participants’ knowledge of how KT could apply to public health education and promotion ; and 3) to learn from different participating stakeholder groups about the factors that facilitate or impede effective KT in public health education and promotion in Iran. Methods: The workshop consisted of three components: introducing the KT concept, assessing the KT capacity of participants, and facilitating a discussion of the important contextual factors that promote and impede effective KT. Of the 26 individuals from across the country participat¬ing in the workshop, 17 took part in a KT capacity assessment activity. They classified them¬selves into one of the following three stakeholder groups: administrators and policymakers (n=6), practitioners (n=2), and researchers (n=9). Results: There were different capacities for KT across the three stakeholder groups. The re-ported challenges for effective KT include “lack of resources and funding”; “lack of time”; “poor quality of relationships and lack of trust between health policymakers, administrators, re-searchers, and clinicians”; “inadequate skills possessed by healthcare professionals and adminis-trators for assessment and adaptation of research findings”; and “poor involvement of commu-nity partners in the research process.” Discussion: There is a great need to develop effective strategies to overcome the reported barri¬ers for effective KT.