Research and Innovation Researchers Describe Research in Health Research Policy and Systems (National strategies for knowledge translation in health policy-making: A scoping review of grey literature): Health and Medicine – Health Research Policy and Systems

2024 MAY 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New study results on health research policy and systems have been published. According to news originating from the Research and Innovation by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Without strategic actions in its support, the translation of scientific research evidence into health policy is often absent or delayed. This review systematically maps and assesses national-level strategic documents in the field of knowledge translation (KT) for health policy, and develops a practical template that can support Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Europe countries in producing national strategies for evidence-informed policy-making.”

Financial supporters for this research include Semmelweis University.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Research and Innovation: “Websites of organizations with strategic responsibilities in KT were electronically searched, on the basis of pre-defined criteria, in July-August 2017, and an updated search was carried out in April-June 2021. We included national strategies or elements of national strategies that dealt with KT activities, as well as similar strategies of individual institutions with a national policy focus. Two reviewers screened the strategies for inclusion. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. A total of 65 unique documents were identified, of which 17 were eligible and analysed for their structure and content. Of the 17, 1 document was a national health KT action plan and 6 documents were institution-level KT strategies. The remaining 10 strategies, which were also included were 2 national health strategies, 5 national health research strategies and 3 national KT strategies (not specific to the field of health alone). In all, 13 structural elements and 7 major themes of health policy KT strategies were identified from the included documents.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “KT in health policy, as emerged from the national strategies that our mapping identified, is based on the production and accessibility of policy-relevant research, its packaging for policy-making and the activities related to knowledge exchange. KT strategies may play different roles in the complex and context-specific process of policy-making. Our findings show that the main ideas of health-specific evidence-informed policy literature appear in these strategies, but their effectiveness depends on the way stakeholders use them. Specific knowledge-brokering institutions and organizational capacity, advocacy about the use of evidence, and close collaboration and co-decision-making with key stakeholders are essential in furthering the policy uptake of research results.”

For more information on this research see: National strategies for knowledge translation in health policy-making: A scoping review of grey literature. Health Research Policy and Systems, 2024,22(1):1-11. (Health Research Policy and Systems - http://www.health-policy-systems.com/). The publisher for Health Research Policy and Systems is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01089-0.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Balazs Babarczy, Unit of Knowledge Management, Evidence and Research for Policy-Making, Division of Information, Evidence, Research and Innovation, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Additional authors for this research include Julia Scarlett, Tarang Sharma, Peter Gaal, Balazs Szecsenyi-Nagy, Tanja Kuchenmuller.

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