Transfer of Learning: Introduction

The goal of a health care delivery site is to provide quality services to a community. The clinical knowledge and skills of a site's staff are a critical factor in establishing and sustaining quality services. However, there are many other factors in the work environment that can directly or indirectly affect the quality of services and influence the ability of providers to apply their knowledge and skills in the services they offer.

The primary purpose of this guide is to share strategies and techniques that can be used before, during and after training interventions to ensure support for the transfer of knowledge and skills to improved performance on the job. The strategies and techniques for transferring learning are presented in an easy-to-use matrix that serves as a table of contents for the rest of the document. We have also included a brief introduction to the many performance factors that can play important roles in the transfer of learning. Users of this guide are encouraged to examine their work environments carefully in order to fully understand all the factors that may be affecting worker performance. A case story illustrates several of the performance factors and demonstrates how to implement some of the ideas shared in the matrix.

The information in this guide enables all of the stakeholders involved in a training intervention to play their respective roles in ensuring that transfer of learning occurs. Stakeholders in the training and learning process may include policy makers and officials at national, regional and local levels, program planners, supervisors, trainers, learners and their co-workers. For learning interventions to be successful, stakeholders must work together as partners with a common goal. While this guide outlines specific actions for supervisors, trainers, learners and their co-workers, other stakeholders can also use this information to gain an appreciation of the process and an understanding of the support and resources needed to ensure transfer of learning.