What Researchers (and National Health Research Systems) Can Do

1. Research competes with many other factors in the policymaking process [Context]

2. Research isn’t valued as an information input [Climate / culture for research use]

3. Research isn’t relevant [Production]4. Research isn’t easy to use [Translation]a. Research isn’t communicated effectively [Push]b. Research isn’t available when policymakers need it and in a

form that they can use [Facilitating pull]c. Policymakers lack the skills and approaches to use research

efficiently in policymaking [Pull]d. Policymakers lack forums where policy challenges can be

discussed with key stakeholders [Exchange]

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What Researchers (and National Health Research Systems) Can Do (2)

3. Engage policymakers and stakeholders periodically in priority-setting processes and communicate the priorities to researchers (including short-term requirements for policy briefs, medium-term term requirements for systematic reviews, and long-term requirements for new primary research) [Production]

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What Researchers (and National Health Research Systems) Can Do (3)

4a. Communicate research effectively (to ensure that policymakers hear music instead of noise) [Push]

– E.g., Identify the take-home messages arising from research (what), the target audiences for each message (to whom), a credible messenger for combinations of audience/message (by whom), a dissemination strategy informed by the available research literature (how), and how influence will be monitored (with what effect)

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What Researchers (and National Health Research Systems) Can Do (4)

Policy briefs

Systematic reviews of research

Individual studies, articles, and reports

Basic, theoretical and methodological innovations4

What Researchers (and National Health Research Systems) Can Do (5)

Support the other features of national health research systems

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