Debate on the paper by Celia Almeida & Ernesto Báscolo

Abstract

communication means more than the mere transfer of information. The ideal process, which is socially superior to other forms of human action, is what Habermas termed "communicative action" 2 . While the analysis of communicative processes means leaving behind linear models, the goal to derive strategies to improve the use of research results in health policy decision-making may not be as distant as under the application of a more remote paradigm. After all, the researchto-policy transfer can even be interpreted as communication in its most basic sense, namely as a process of conveying information. Effective communication is what we would like to see as a result: an impact on policy formulation and implementation.When policy research is perceived as threatening by policy-makers, when researchers do not get their messages across to policy-makers, and when basic research is not considered relevant by policy-makers, then communication is not effective. The underlying communicative processes need to be analyzed. Recommendations from the research-to-policy literature on the right format of easily digestible research findings or on engaging with advocacy coalitions only tackle the symptoms, not the root causes for the failure to communicate effectively between the two spheres.