National policy-makers speak out: are researchers giving them what they need?

A A Hyder,M.-K Lim,H Malekafzali,P J Winch,J Mfutso-Bengo,A El-Shinnawy,A Ghaffar,E Segura,A Corluka,H Ghassany

doi:10.1093/heapol/czq020

Abstract

The objective of this empirical study was to understand the perspectives and attitudes of policy-makers towards the use and impact of research in the health sector in low- and middle-income countries. The study used data from 83 semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with purposively selected policy-makers at the national level in Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Malawi, Oman and Singapore. The interviews were structured around an interview guide developed based on existing literature and in consultation with all six country investigators. Transcripts were processed using a thematic-analysis approach. Policy-makers interviewed for this study were unequivocal in their support for health research and the high value they attribute to it. However, they stated that there were structural and informal barriers to research contributing to policy processes, to the contribution research makes to knowledge generally, and to the use of research in health decision-making specifically. Major findings regarding barriers to evidence-based policy-making included poor communication and dissemination, lack of technical capacity in policy processes, as well as the influence of the political context. Policy-makers had a variable understanding of economic analysis, equity and burden of disease measures, and were vague in terms of their use in national decisions. Policy-maker recommendations regarding strategies for facilitating the uptake of research into policy included improving the technical capacity of policy-makers, better packaging of research results, use of social networks, and establishment of fora and clearinghouse functions to help assist in evidence-based policy-making.

Highlights

The mismatch between the need for and investment in health research was highlighted most notably by a report in 1990 which found that
Global and national efforts have been made to consult with policy-makers and research users (Lavis et al 2005) and invite them to be part of research processes, though empirical work in this field is lacking, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Hyder et al 2007)
There is an extensive body of literature on the research-to-policy process overall and most of it is from high-income countries; and there is limited empirical work, or application of standardized approaches, across multiple countries (Fielding et al 2002; Petticrew et al 2004; Watt et al 2005; Lavis 2006; St-Pierre et al 2007)