Abstract
Background and aim: Knowledge sharing is vital for healthcare professionals to enhance skills and stay updated. This study assessed knowledge and practices of knowledge-sharing among health sector employees in Riyadh, compared them with other sectors, and identified factors influencing practices. Methodology: This cross-sectional study collected data via electronic questionnaire from 427 health and non-health-sector employees recruited through convenience sampling. Data covered background information and knowledge and practice of four categories of knowledge-sharing techniques: formal, informal, documentation and repositories, and technology-based. Means and weighted means were calculated, and group differences were analyzed using Student’s t-test and chi-square test. Results: Over half of respondents (52.7%) demonstrated high knowledge, and 97.0% reported practicing knowledge sharing. Knowledge was highest for formal techniques (weighted means: 0.86 for Health-sector; 0.78 for Non-Health-sector) and lowest for technology-based techniques (weighted means: 0.71 for Health-sector; 0.68 for Non-Health-sector). Practice was highest for formal techniques (weighted means: 0.88 for Health-sector; 0.80 for Non-Health-sector) and lowest for informal techniques (weighted means: 0.72 for Health-sector; 0.61 for Non-Health-sector) and technology-based techniques (weighted means: 0.72 for Health-sector; 0.61 for Non-Health-sector). Health-sector employees had significantly greater knowledge of formal and informal techniques than their non-health counterparts (p < 0.05), and informal knowledge sharing was also significantly more common among them compared to non-health sector employees (p < 0.05). Conclusion: level of knowledge and practice of knowledge sharing is high specially among health-sector-employees. Efforts are needed to encourage knowledge sharing through informal and technology-based techniques.
Peer review
Peer reviewed by 2 reviewers, who chose to remain anonymous.