Evaluación del impacto de la investigación en la política sanitaria: conceptos y casos concretos

Abstract

A recent review shows that research has a greater impact on health policy than is often thought to be the case. Analysis of a range of concepts related to health policymaking and the use of research is useful to indicate why it can be difficult for research to make an impact and how the impact that does occur can best be assessed and possibly enhanced. Broadly defined, policymaking includes national legislation, decisions by local health-providing units and even clinical guidelines from professional bodies. There are diverse models of policymaking and of research use in policymaking, but research can generally provide both concepts and facts that can improve policies. The recent review concentrated on studies that assessed the impact made by health research programs in countries that include Catalonia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The examples were identified as having an impact on a range of clinical and other policies. The 'interfaces and receptor' model for assessing the impact of health research recognizes that research is most likely to make an impact when researchers and policymakers collaborate across the boundaries or interfaces between them and when the policymakers receiving the research findings, i.e. the receptor bodies, are organized to make use of these findings. This model can be used to show how to enhance the impact of research and examples from the United Kingdom and Mexico illustrate how it can be used to analyze and assess the use of research in policymaking.