Utilization of epidemiological research for the development of local public health policy in the Netherlands: A case study approach

Goede, J. de; Putters, Kim; Oers, Hans van

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.014

Cited by 11 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…We conducted a survey among local health officials because, in earlier case studies [5], it was shown that they played a key role in the development of local health policy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the specific Dutch context we designed multiple questions for each concept, since the concepts can have several meanings [5]. This was also suggested by Ouimet et al [16], who pointed out that, in order to obtain more understanding of research utilization, more precise questions are needed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Qualitative studies are valuable for identifying the mechanisms of research use, but to gain insight into the nature of utilization and finding influencing factors, a quantitative approach is more suitable. Earlier municipal case studies [5] have shown that the local health officials fulfill a key role in the distribution of epidemiological information and knowledge during the local health policy development process, so a survey was carried out among these local health officials. These local health officials are professional practitioners and work under the supervision of elected administrators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many quantitative studies have used the ladder of research utilization of Knott and Wildavsky, a measure of main outcome [8,17-19]. However, as a result of our municipal case studies [5], we became more interested in the different ways of usage because we noted that the same research can be applied in several ways. Therefore we followed Amara et al, and distinguished three types of use for individual policymakers: instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In earlier municipal case studies [5] it was shown that epidemiological research utilization of the local health officials also depended on the characteristics of the policy memoranda and how the policy process was organized. We believe these associated factors belong to the setting of the policy network in our conceptual framework, and it is therefore important that they are taken into account in the current study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Looking for interaction: quantitative measurement of research utilization by Dutch local health officials

Goede

Bon-Martens

Mathijssen

et al. 2012

Health Res Policy Sys

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BackgroundIn the Netherlands, local authorities are required by law to develop local health memoranda, based on epidemiological analyses. The purpose of this study was to assess the actual use of these epidemiological reports by municipal health officials and associated factors that affect this use.MethodBased on a conceptual framework, we designed a questionnaire in which we operationalized instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic use, the interaction between researchers and local health officials, and four clusters of barriers in this interaction process. We conducted an internet survey among 155 Dutch local health officials representing 35% of all Dutch municipalities. By means of multiple regression analyses, we gained insight into the related factors for each of the three types of research utilization.ResultsThe results show that local health officials use epidemiological research more often in a conceptual than an instrumental or symbolic way. This can be explained by the complexity of the local policy process which is often linked to policies in other areas, and the various policy actors involved. Conceptual use was statistically associated with a presentation given by the epidemiologist during the policy process, the presence of obstructions regarding the report's accessibility, and the local official's personal belief systems and interests originating from different professional values and responsibilities. Instrumental and symbolic use increased with the involvement of local officials in the research process.ConclusionsThe results of this study provide a partial solution to understanding and influencing research utilization. The quantitative approach underpins earlier qualitative findings on this topic. The outcomes suggest that RPHS epidemiologists can use different strategies to improve research utilization. 'Blurring the boundaries', and the enhancement of interfaces between epidemiologists and local health officials, like direct interactions into each other's work processes, is expected to create better possibilities for optimizing research use.

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“…We conducted a survey among local health officials because, in earlier case studies [5], it was shown that they played a key role in the development of local health policy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%