Abstract
This paper addresses a fundamental question in evidence based policy making—can scientists and policy makers work together? It first provides a scenario outlining the different mentalities and imperatives of scientists and policy makers, and then discusses various issues and solutions relating to whether and how scientists and policy makers can work together. Scientists and policy makers have different goals, attitudes toward information, languages, perception of time, and career paths. Important issues affecting their working together include lack of mutual trust and respect, different views on the production and use of evidence, different accountabilities, and whether there should be a link between science and policy. The suggested solutions include providing new incentives to encourage scientists and policy makers to work together, using knowledge brokers (translational scientists), making organisational changes, defining research in a broader sense, re-defining the starting point for knowledge transfer, expanding the accountability horizon, and finally, acknowledging the complexity of policy making. It is hoped that further discussion and debate on the partnership idea, the need for incentives, recognising the incompatibility problems, the role of civil society, and other related themes will lead to new opportunities for further advancing evidence based policy and practice.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (173.1 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Black N. Evidence based policy: proceed with care. BMJ. 2001 Aug 4;323(7307):275–279. doi: 10.1136/bmj.323.7307.275. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Choi B. C. Re: "invited commentary: circular epidemiology". Am J Epidemiol. 2000 May 15;151(10):1036–1037. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010132. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gray J. A. Where's the chief knowledge officer? To manage the most precious resource of all. BMJ. 1998 Sep 26;317(7162):832–832. doi: 10.1136/bmj.317.7162.832. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Innvaer Simon, Vist Gunn, Trommald Mari, Oxman Andrew. Health policy-makers' perceptions of their use of evidence: a systematic review. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2002 Oct;7(4):239–244. doi: 10.1258/135581902320432778. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jardine Cindy, Hrudey Steve, Shortreed John, Craig Lorraine, Krewski Daniel, Furgal Chris, McColl Stephen. Risk management frameworks for human health and environmental risks. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2003 Nov-Dec;6(6):569–720. doi: 10.1080/10937400390208608. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kavanagh Anne, Daly Jeanne, Jolley Damien. Research methods, evidence and public health. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2002 Aug;26(4):337–342. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2002.tb00181.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kuller L. H. Circular epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 1999 Nov 1;150(9):897–903. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010097. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lin Vivian. From public health research to health promotion policy: on the 10 major contradictions. Soz Praventivmed. 2004;49(3):179–184. doi: 10.1007/s00038-004-3083-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Marmot Michael G. Evidence based policy or policy based evidence? BMJ. 2004 Apr 17;328(7445):906–907. doi: 10.1136/bmj.328.7445.906. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McQueen D. V. Strengthening the evidence base for health promotion. Health Promot Int. 2001 Sep;16(3):261–268. doi: 10.1093/heapro/16.3.261. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mindell J., Boaz A., Joffe M., Curtis S., Birley M. Enhancing the evidence base for health impact assessment. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004 Jul;58(7):546–551. doi: 10.1136/jech.2003.012401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pang Tikki. Filling the gap between knowing and doing. Nature. 2003 Nov 27;426(6965):383–383. doi: 10.1038/426383a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Samet J. M., Lee N. L. Bridging the gap: perspectives on translating epidemiologic evidence into policy. Am J Epidemiol. 2001 Dec 15;154(12 Suppl):S1–S3. doi: 10.1093/aje/154.12.s1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sanders David, Chopra Mickey. Two key issues for the new WHO leadership. Lancet. 2003 Jan 11;361(9352):172–173. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12198-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]