The sustainability of knowledge brokerage of the mental health improvement outcomes framework in Scotland: a follow-up analysis

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This is a follow-up study to Reid et al (2017) which considered the barriers and facilitators of getting knowledge into policy when using a knowledge brokering approach. The previous study analysed the use of strategies to reduce barriers to the use of evidence in mental health strategy planning in Scotland using outcome frameworks. The main facilitators highlighted were the importance of local champions, cooperation within partnership networks, and national-level support. The barriers were local implementation cultures, local time pressures, perceived complexities of the framework, and timeliness of the framework. The present article details the results of a follow-up qualitative evaluation of the sustainability of the mental health improvement outcomes framework with local planners. There is a dearth of literature which focuses on the sustainability of outcome frameworks and the findings of this study suggest that the barriers highlighted by Reid et al (2017) remain acute issues. However, there are further aspects for learning for knowledge brokers themselves in terms of national and local relations and the wider challenges and opportunities relating to network governance and policy reform agendas.