From Discovery to Practice: Translating and Transforming Work-Family Research for the Health of Families

In this article the meaning of translational research in the work and family field is examined. Specifically, we review findings from a longitudinal study of low-wage workers across the transition to parenthood and examine how this basic discovery research informs the next step in translational research, that of clinical practice. The authors describe three specific sets of findings that hold direct and immediate implications for interventions and policy that could support working families. We close with a discussion of how both translational and transdisciplinary research have the potential to inform evidence-based practice, social policy, and effective social action to decrease physical and mental health disparities among low- income, working families.