Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Author, year, country | Study design | Health topic | Health organisation setting | Decision-maker population | Control group | Research implementation group | Outcome measure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beynon et al. 2012, multi-national [46] | Randomised controlled trial | Health in low- and middle-income countries | Public health | Professions from government and non-government organisations and academia (n = 807) | Existing Institute of Development Studies publication from the In Focus Policy Briefing series | Basic 3-page policy brief | Basic 3-page policy brief plus an expert opinion piece | Basic 3-page policy brief plus an unnamed research fellow opinion piece | Online questionnaires (immediately, 1 week and 3 months post) Semi-structured interviews (in-between 1 week and 3 months and after 3 month questionnaires) |
| Brownson et al. 2007, USA [47] | Quasi-experimental | Guidelines for promoting physical activity | State and local health departments (n = 8) | Health department program managers, administrators, division, bureau, or agency heads, and ‘other’ positions e.g. program planner, nutritionist (State n = 58) (Local n = 55) (Other n = 80) |
Remaining states and the Virgin Islands served as the comparison group) | Workshops, ongoing technical assistance and distribution of an instructional CD-ROM | 25-item questionnaire survey (2 years) | ||
| Bullock et al. 2012, UK [48] | Programme evaluation case study | Non-specific | NHS health service delivery organisations (n = 10) | Management fellows (n = 11) Chief investigators (n = 10) Additional co-applicants from the research teams (n = 3) Workplace line-managers (n = 12) (Total n = 36) |
None | UK Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) Management Fellowship programme | Semi-structured face-to-face interviews | ||
| Campbell et al. 2011, Australia [49] | Program evaluation | Range of topics related to population health, health services organisation and delivery, and cost effectiveness | State-level policy agencies, including both the New South Wales and Victorian Departments of Health (n = 5) | Policymakers (n = 8) | None | ‘Evidence check’ rapid policy relevant review and knowledge brokers | Structured interviews (2–3 years) | ||
| Chambers et al. 2012, UK [58] | Case study | Adolescents with eating disorders | Primary care | Local NHS commissioners and clinicians (n = 15) | None | Contextualised evidence briefing based on systematic review | Short evaluation questionnaire | ||
| Champagne et al. 2014, Canada [59] | Case studies | Non-specific | Academic health centres (n = 6) | Extra fellows, SEARCHers, Colleagues, Supervisors, Vice-presidents and CEOs (n = 84) | None | Executive Training for Research Application (EXTRA) program Swift, Efficient, Application of Research in Community Health (SEARCH) Classic program |
Semi-structured interviews and data from available organisational documents | ||
| Courtney et al. 2007, USA [60] | Cohort study | Substance abuse treatment programs | Community-based treatment units (n = 53 units from n = 24 multisite parent organisations) | Directors and clinical supervisors (n = 309) | None | 2-day workshop (entitled “TCU Model Training-making it real”) | Compliance with early steps of consulting and planning activities (1 month) Organisational Readiness for Change (ORC) assessment (1 month) |
||
| Dagenais et al. 2015, Burkina Faso [52] | Implementation evaluation | Maternal health, malaria prevention, free healthcare, and family planning | Public health | Researchers; Knowledge brokers; health professionals; community-based organisations; and local, regional, and national policy-makers (n = 47) | None | Knowledge broker | Semi-structured individual interviews and participant training session questionnaires | ||
| Dobbins et al. 2001, Canada [61]. | Cross-sectional follow-up survey | Home visiting as a public health intervention, community-based heart health promotion, adolescent suicide prevention, community development, and parent-child health | Public health units (n = 41) | Public health decision-makers (n = 147) | None | Systematic reviews | Cross-sectional follow-up telephone survey | ||
| Dobbins et al. 2009, Canada [9] | Randomised controlled trial | Promotion of healthy bodyweight in children | Public health departments (n = 108) | Front-line staff 35% Managers 26% Directors 10% Coordinators 9% Other 20% (n = 108) |
Access to an online registry of research evidence | Tailored, targeted messages Access to an online registry of research evidence |
Knowledge broker Tailored, targeted messages Access to an online registry of research evidence |
Telephone-administered survey (knowledge transfer and exchange data collection tool) 1–3 months post completion of intervention (intervention lasted 12 months) |
|
| Dopp et al. 2013, Netherlands [55] | Mixed methods process evaluation | Dementia | Home-based community health | Managers (n = 20) Physicians (n = 36) Occupational therapists (n = 36) |
None | Multifaceted implementation strategy | Semi-structured telephone interviews with managers (3–5 months) Semi-structured focus groups with occupational therapists (2 months) |
||
| Flanders et al. 2009, USA [53] | Implementation evaluation | Patient safety | Teaching and nonteaching, urban and rural, government and private, as well as academic and community settings (n = 9) | Hospitalists or quality improvement staff, representatives from each institutions department of quality or department of patient safety (n = 9) | None | The Hospitalists as Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety (HELPS) Consortium | Web-based survey (post meetings) | ||
| Gagliardi et al. 2008, Canada [56] | Mixed methods exploratory | Colorectal cancer | Not specified | Researchers (n = 6) Clinicians (n = 13) Manager (n = 5) Policy-maker (n = 5) (Total n = 29) |
Review of Canadian health services research in colorectal cancer based on published performance measures 1-day workshop to prioritise research gaps, define research questions and plan implementation of a research study. |
Participant survey (prior to workshop) Observation of workshop participants (during workshop) Semi-structured interviews and observation of workshop participants (during workshop) |
|||
| Kitson et al. 2011, Australia [50] | Project evaluation | 7 clinical topic areas identified in The Older Person and Improving Care (TOPIC7) project | Large tertiary hospital (n = 1) | Clinical nursing leaders (n = 14) Team members (n = 28) Managers (n = 11) |
None | Knowledge translation toolkit | Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires | ||
| Moat et al. 2014, multi-national, [63] | Survey evaluation | Health in low- and middle-income countries | Public health | Policy-makers, stakeholders and researchers (n = 530) | None | Evidence briefs Deliberative dialogues |
Questionnaire surveys | ||
| Traynor et al. 2014, Canada [57] | Single mixed-methods study and a case study | Child obesity | Canadian public health departments (n = 30) (Case studies n = 3) |
Health department staff (RCT n = 108) (Case A n = 258) (Case B n = 391) (Case C n = 155) |
Access to an online registry of research evidence | Knowledge brokering | Knowledge broker journaling (baseline, interim, follow-up) Qualitative interviews n = 12 (1 year) Case study interviews n = 37 (baseline, interim and 22 month follow-up) |
||
| Uneke et al. 2015, Nigeria [54] | Implementation evaluation | Low- and middle-income country health | Public health | Directors from Ministry of Health (n = 9) Senior researchers from the university (n = 5) NGO executive director (n = 1) Director of public health in the local government service commission (n = 1) Executive secretary of the AIDS control agency (n = 1) State focal person of Millennium Development Goals (n = 1) (Total n = 18) |
None | Training workshop (HPAC) Certificate course (HPAC) Policy brief and hosting of a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue (HPAC) |
Semi-structured interviews (end of each intervention) Group discussions |
||
| Waqa et al. 2013, Fiji [51] | Process evaluation | Overweight and obesity | Public health government organisations (n = 6) NGOs (n = 2) |
Senior managers (n = 20) Middle managers (n = 22) Junior managers (n = 7) (Total n = 49) |
None | Policy brief and hosting of a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue (HPAC) | Semi-structured interviews Process diaries |
||
| Wilson et al. 2015, Canada [64] | Process evaluation | Non specific | Policy analysts (n = 9) Health department units (n = 6) |
Senior analysts (n = 8) Junior analysts (n = 1) |
None | Access to an online registry of research evidence | Semi-structured telephone interviews | ||