An institutional approach to support the conduct and use of health policy and systems research: The Nodal Institute in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

El‐Jardali, Fadi; Saleh, Shadi; Khodor, Rawya; Rub, Raeda Abu Al; Arfa, Chokri; Romdhane, Habiba Ben; Hamadeh, Randah Ribhi

doi:10.1186/s12961-015-0032-9

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Findings highlight misalignment between national health research priorities and actual research production, since the majority of respondents indicated submitting proposals not addressing national health research priorities. This corroborates findings of previous studies conducted in the Region that highlighted a gap in the production of policy-relevant research (5,16,17). This can be explained by the fact that only 31.7% of the surveyed institutions reported being involved in a national priority setting exercise over the past five years.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Findings also suggest that funders occasionally and rarely formulate their priorities and calls for proposals in response to national/regional needs, which can partially explain the misalignment. Respondents mostly reported NCDs as their top priority, which corresponds to regional and global priorities as declared by stakeholders, policy-makers and regional and international organizations (17,(19)(20)(21).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engagement of health research institutions in knowledge translation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Jardali¹,

Mandil²,

Jamal³

et al. 2018

East Mediterr Health J

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There is still misalignment between national health research priorities and actual research production, and KT activities are still rarely undertaken by institutions in the EMR. National governments and international funding agencies are called to support research production and translation in the EMR. Institutions and researchers are also called to produce policy-relevant research and be responsive to the needs and priorities of policy-makers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engagement of health research institutions in knowledge translation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Jardali¹,

Mandil²,

Jamal³

et al. 2018

East Mediterr Health J

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“…Based on our analysis of the characteristics of included studies provided in Additional file 3 , we note the following patterns: the years of publication ranged from 2008 to 2017, with the median year of publication being 2014; the most common jurisdictional focus of the KT platforms was country rather than sub-national, regional (supra-national) or global, while the most common country focus was Uganda (appearing in 13 studies) [ 23 , 24 , 33 , 41 – 48 , 52 , 53 ], Lebanon (appearing in 8 studies, of which 6 examine Lebanon in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean region) [ 28 – 32 , 34 , 41 , 59 ], and South Africa (appearing in 8 studies) [ 23 , 24 , 26 , 37 , 42 , 49 , 51 , 54 ]; the most common name used by the KT platforms was EVIPNet (appearing in 17 studies) [ 25 , 28 – 33 , 37 , 41 , 44 – 48 , 50 , 52 , 53 ], whether because that was the formal name of the group or because it considered itself part of the EVIPNet ‘family’ even if it went by a different name, such as REACH Policy Initiative Uganda and its variously named rapid evidence service (e.g. Makerere University’s service, REACH Policy Initiative service, SURE project service or rapid response service); the most common variables and relationships addressed, were as follows: ◦ descriptions ( n = 33 of 38 studies) [ 23 – 38 , 40 – 43 , 46 – 49 , 51 – 56 , 58 – 60 ] were more common than formative evaluations ( n = 18) [ 23 , ...…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons learned from descriptions and evaluations of knowledge translation platforms supporting evidence-informed policy-making in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Partridge

Mansilla

Randhawa

et al. 2020

Health Res Policy Sys

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Background Knowledge translation (KT) platforms are organisations, initiatives and networks that focus on supporting evidence-informed policy-making at least in part about the health-system arrangements that determine whether the right programmes, services and products get to those who need them. Many descriptions and evaluations of KT platforms in low- and middle-income countries have been produced but, to date, they have not been systematically reviewed. Methods We identified potentially relevant studies through a search of five electronic databases and a variety of approaches to identify grey literature. We used four criteria to select eligible empirical studies. We extracted data about seven characteristics of included studies and about key findings. We used explicit criteria to assess study quality. In synthesising the findings, we gave greater attention to themes that emerged from multiple studies, higher-quality studies and different contexts. Results Country was the most common jurisdictional focus of KT platforms, EVIPNet the most common name and high turnover among staff a common infrastructural feature. Evidence briefs and deliberative dialogues were the activities/outputs that were the most extensively studied and viewed as helpful, while rapid evidence services were the next most studied but only in a single jurisdiction. None of the summative evaluations used a pre–post design or a control group and, with the exception of the evaluations of the influence of briefs and dialogues on intentions to act, none of the evaluations achieved a high quality score. Conclusions A large and growing volume of research evidence suggests that KT platforms offer promise in supporting evidence-informed policy-making in low- and middle-income countries. KT platforms should consider as next steps expanding their current, relatively limited portfolio of activities and outputs, building bridges to complementary groups, and planning for evaluations that examine ‘what works’ for ‘what types of issues’ in ‘what types of contexts’.

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“…This also could be characterised as depicting normative dimensions of institutionalisation of knowledge use, in so much as social pressure induces individuals to behave in a particular way. This is also true for studies that were conducted at regional level [54,55,[73][74][75], which seek to develop a common understanding and establish modes of practice that can be shared across similar country contexts. For this reason, we considered these articles to illustrate both normative and cultural-cognitive types of institutionalisation.…”

Section: Institutionalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

Koon

Windmeyer

Bigdeli

et al. 2020

Health Res Policy Sys

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There is growing interest in how different forms of knowledge can strengthen policy-making in low-and middleincome country (LMIC) health systems. Additionally, health policy and systems researchers are increasingly aware of the need to design effective institutions for supporting knowledge utilisation in LMICs. To address these interwoven agendas, this scoping review uses the Arskey and O'Malley framework to review the literature on knowledge utilisation in LMIC health systems, using eight public health and social science databases. Articles that described the process for how knowledge was used in policy-making, specified the type of knowledge used, identified actors involved (individual, organisation or professional), and were set in specific LMICs were included. A total of 53 articles, from 1999 to 2016 and representing 56 countries, were identified. The majority of articles in this review presented knowledge utilisation as utilisation of research findings, and to a lesser extent routine health system data, survey data and technical advice. Most of the articles centered on domestic public sector employees and their interactions with civil society representatives, international stakeholders or academics in utilising epistemic knowledge for policy-making in LMICs. Furthermore, nearly all of the articles identified normative dimensions of institutionalisation. While there is some evidence of how different uses and institutionalisation of knowledge can strengthen health systems, the evidence on how these processes can ultimately improve health outcomes remains unclear. Further research on the ways in which knowledge can be effectively utilised and institutionalised is needed to advance the collective understanding of health systems strengthening and enhance evidence-informed policy formulation.

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An institutional approach to support the conduct and use of health policy and systems research: The Nodal Institute in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

Engagement of health research institutions in knowledge translation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Engagement of health research institutions in knowledge translation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Lessons learned from descriptions and evaluations of knowledge translation platforms supporting evidence-informed policy-making in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

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