[afro-nets] Communicating health research: how should evidence affect policy and practice?

["Luca Dussin" <dussin.l@healthlink.org.uk>]

Communicating health research: how should evidence affect policy and practice?
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Dear Friend

'Communicating health research: how should evidence affect policy and practice?' (Findings 5, April 2006, Exchange) reviews the complexities of research-policy dynamics, and suggests ways of bringing the research process closer to the point of decision making.  

Effective communication strategies for health research, aimed at bringing about real changes in people's lives, need to go beyond results dissemination. Throughout the research process and from its very start, researchers can engage in a genuine communication effort and seek to dialogue and interact with all key stakeholders. Commissioners of research should include support for capacity development of researchers to facilitate networking with stakeholders and communication of research, particularly for southern researchers.

This entails developing essential capacities and engaging in a range of activities, including: networking with political actors, influencing policy makers; challenging powerful elites; negotiating priorities with research commissioners; listening to practitioners; engaging with the needs and demands of the intended 'beneficiaries'; and adapting the dissemination of research findings to different audiences. 

Drawing on the expertise of communication specialists and on the support of intermediary organisations may be essential to the successful communication of research.

This paper can be found at
http://www.healthlink.org.uk/PDFs/findings_research.pdf

If you would like a print version of the paper please contact
info@healthlink.org.uk

For more resources on the topic please check the Key list on Communicating health research developed by Source International Information Support Centre, which draws on the research carried out by Exchange for its Findings paper. It contains a selection of resources available in Source's online databases at http://www.asksource.info/, and includes monographs, articles and websites investigating and discussing research-policy dynamics and the 'research-practice boundary'. 

To access the Key list please go to http://www.ids.ac.uk/sourcesearch/cf/keylists/keylist.cfm?topic=az&search=QL_Research_Communication_05_RV

Hard copies of the Key list can be obtained by contacting mailto:info@healthlink.org.uk

If you want to know more about Healthlink Worldwide's work in strengthening capacity in communicating health research, please visit http://www.healthlink.org.uk/we-do/research.html.

Healthlink Worldwide is involved in two sessions on research communication at Forum 10 of the Global Forum for Health Research, Cairo, Egypt, 29 October - 2 November 2006 http://www.globalforumhealth.org

Best wishes,

Luca Dussin
Information Officer
Healthlink Worldwide
56-64 Leonard St.
London EC2A 4JX
Tel: +44 20 7549 0257
Fax: +44 20 7549 0241
http://www.healthlink.org.uk/
http://www.asksource.info/
mailto:dussin.l@healthlink.org.uk