Researchers from University of Sydney Report Recent Findings in Health Policy (Do policy-makers find commissioned rapid reviews useful?)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Data detailed on Health Policy have been presented. According to news reporting out of Sydney, Australia, by NewsRx editors, research stated, "Rapid reviews are increasingly used by policy agencies to access relevant research in short timeframes. Despite the growing number of programmes, little is known about how rapid reviews are used by health policy agencies."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Sydney, "This study examined whether and how rapid reviews commissioned using a knowledge brokering programme were used by Australian policy-makers. This study used interview data to examine the use of 139 rapid reviews by health policy agencies that were commissioned between 2006 and 2015. Transcripts were coded to identify how rapid reviews were used, the type of policy processes in which they were used, what evidence of use was provided and what reasons were given when rapid reviews were not used. Fisher's exact test was used to assess variation between types of agencies. Overall, 89% of commissioned rapid reviews were used by the commissioning agencies and 338 separate instances of use were identified, namely, on average, three uses per review. Policy-makers used reviews primarily to determine the details of a policy or programme, identify priorities for future action or investment, negotiate interjurisdictional decisions, evaluate alternative solutions for a policy problem, and communicate information to stakeholders. Some variation in use was observed across agencies. Reasons for non-use were related to changes in organisational structures, resources or key personnel in the commissioning agencies, or changes in the broader political environment. This study found that almost all rapid reviews had been used by the agencies who commissioned them, primarily in policy and programme development, agenda-setting, and to communicate information to stakeholders. Reviews were used mostly in instrumental and conceptual ways and there was little evidence of symbolic use. Variations in use were identified across agencies."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "The findings suggest that commissioned rapid reviews are an effective means of providing timely relevant research for use in policy processes and that review findings may be applied in a variety of ways."

For more information on this research see: Do policy-makers find commissioned rapid reviews useful? Health Research Policy and Systems, 2018;16():1-14. Health Research Policy and Systems can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; Health Research Policy and Systems - www.health-policy-systems.com)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting G. Moore, University of Sydney, Sydney Med Sch, Sch Public Hlth, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Additional authors for this research include S. Redman, S. Rudge and A. Haynes (see also Health Policy).

Keywords for this news article include: Sydney, Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Health and Medicine, Health Policy, Legislation, University of Sydney.

Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2018, NewsRx LLC