Table 2.
Strategy for engaging policymakers | Recommendations for research-policy translation | Barriers to research-policy translation |
---|---|---|
Start early |
• Engage policymakers when planning research [34, 41] • Be strategic about research and audience [29, 40] • Take initiative to contact policymakers [44] |
|
Drum up support |
• Involve a broad pool of experts [35] • Cultivate broad coalition of supporters [47] |
• Policymakers may appear not to value research [28] |
Use research evidence 'champions' or 'brokers' |
• Research use 'champions' engage with community stakeholders and policymakers [45] • Intermediary organizations connect “research supply” to “research demand” [53] • External brokers play a role both in connecting policymakers to research and in conceptualizing and developing policy [39, 43] |
• Intermediary individuals or organizations may select or spin research to make their point [45, 52, 53] • Policymakers may have a list of preferred evidence brokers [53] • Basing policy on evidence requires identified 'best evidence', which may reflect bias and favoritism [29] |
Context matters |
• Integrate research evidence into broader sociopolitical context [45] • Research must be locally, contextually relevant [54, 55, 57] • Specify which government office(s) are responsible [47] |
• Federally imposed policies (e.g., education) often override local expertise around context and population [29] • Ideology, whether personal or regional, may create a barrier between researchers and policymakers [27, 41, 44, 50, 54–56] |
Make research products timely, relevant, and accessible |
• Tailor design of products to meet diverse end user needs [27, 34] • Present research in commonly-used formats (e.g., briefs, talking points, videos) [48] • Research must be timely and geared to policymakers' concerns [27, 38, 42, 44, 52] • Use clear, careful language [27] • Formalize the organizational / individual process of translating research to policy [32] |
• Complexity of research [56] • Disconnect between the goals and language of policymakers and researchers [41, 52, 56] • Concerns about data/research evidence quality [29, 41, 42] |
Know the players and the process |
• Familiarize yourself with policymaking process [27, 31] • Show respect for policymakers' knowledge/experiences [27] • Learn about / build relationships with the target policymaking audience [27, 30] • Expand contact and working relationships with end users [34] |
• Lack of familiarity with effective dissemination strategies [31] • Lack of financial and institutional support for dissemination [31] |
Miscellaneous | • Approach policy work as an educator rather than as an advocate [27] |