EVIPNetNews - Issue N 30 - Apr 2012

April 2012 Issue 30 1. Highlights 2. Empirical studies 3. Editorial articles 4. Systematic reviews 5. Relevant publications 6. Events 7. Relevant tools & links

News from EVIPNet Members or Activities April 2012 - Voices from EVIPNet REACH- Uganda country team’s experience, by Harriet Nabudere

EVIPNetNews Experiences, methods and tools for research translation to policy

1 - HIGHLIGHTS New WHO Evidence-informed policy-making website All services, activities and products of the WHO EVIPNet programme are now accessible in the new WHO evidence-informed policy-making website at http://www.who.int/evidence/en/. This site is an entry point to the new EVIPNet Portal and Virtual Health Library that is currently under development. In the upcoming EVIPNetNews we will inform when it is operational.

New design for SURE Website and SURE Guides for Preparing and Using Evidence-Based Policy Briefs

March 2012 - National capacity buiding workshop in evidenceinformed policy-making in Muraz Centre, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Next EVIPNet Events Finding Evidence Capacity Building Workshop, Cameroun, Youndé, from 23 to 27 April 2012

The new format of SURE Website is part of new WHO evidence-informed policymaking website and provide new SURE Guides for Preparing and Using EvidenceBased Policy Briefs, in English only for the moment. These guides are intended for those people responsible for preparing and supporting the use of policy briefs and ensuring that decisions about health systems are well-informed by research evidence. The guides focus specifically on these issues in the context of African health systems and the examples used are taken from policy briefs that address important problems in African countries.

2 - EMPIRICAL STUDIES Background Paper on Conceptual Issues Related to Health Systems Research to Inform a WHO Global Strategy on Health Systems Research

HIFA-EVIPNet-French brings together stakeholders to explore the information needs of policymakers and how these needs can be addressed more effectively, thereby improving the policymaking process and its impact on public health. HIFAEVIPNet-French will focus on French-speaking African countries.

Join HIFA-EVIPNet-Fr

Hoffman, S., Røttingen , J.A., Bennett, S., Lavis, J., Edge, J., Frenk, F., (2012).

Background Paper on Conceptual Issues Related to Health Systems Research to Inform a WHO Global Strategy on Health Systems Research.

This paper was commissioned to provide a conceptual underpinning for the WHO Global Strategy on Health Systems Research that is currently under development. It reviews existing definitions, terms, conceptual models, taxonomies, standards, methods and research designs which describe the scope of health systems research as well as the barriers and opportunities that flow from them. It addresses each of the five main goals of the WHO Strategy on Research for Health, including organization, priorities, capacity, standards and translation.

To join, please email your name, job title, organisation, country of residence, and brief description of professional interests to: hifa-evipnet-fradmin@dgroups.org

Health system performance comparison: an agenda for policy, information and research Smith, P., Papanicolas, I., (2012). Health system performance comparison: an agenda for policy, information and research. Copenhagen: World Health Organization, on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies International health system performance comparisons have the potential to provide a rich source of evidence as well as policy influence. Country comparisons that are not conducted with properly validated measures and unbiased policy interpretations may prompt adverse policy impacts and so caution is required in the selection of indicators, the methodologies used, and the interpretations made.

3 – EDITORIAL ARTICLES Strategies to enhance the capacity for evidence-informed health policymaking in Nigeria Uneke, C., Ngwu, B., Ogbonna, A., Ezeoha, A., Oyibo, P., Onwe, F. (2010). Strategies to enhance the capacity for evidence-informed health policymaking in Nigeria. The Internet Journal of Healthcare Administration, 7(1), 4.

In Nigeria, there is little interest in transfer and uptake of research into policy and practice. The major constraint to the use of evidence in policy and practice in Nigeria is the grossly deficient capacity development at the individual and organizational levels, particularly the lack of formally trained human resources among public health policy makers. The problem is further compounded by the existence of few relevant studies for many important health policy issues, much less systematic reviews of evidence. The most prominent reason attributed to the limited usability of existing data is that policymakers’ needs do not drive research. Also conflicts over fundamental political values and interest groups can limit the relevance of evidence to the decision-making process and inundate the policy setting with bad-quality evidence, champion poorly designed studies, and limit the critical analysis of information through the social relations they develop with officials. The strategies to enhance evidence-informed policy making include: enhancing supply of policyrelevant research products; enhancing capacity of policy-making organizations to use evidence; establishing new organizational mechanisms to support use of evidence in policy; promoting networking and; establishing norms and regulations regarding evidence use in policymaking.

4 - SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS The McMaster Health Forum Health Systems Evidence provides links to graded systematic reviews that may be helpful for evidence-informed policy-making.

An evidence synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research on component intervention techniques, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, equity and acceptability of different versions of health-related lifestyle advisor role in improving health

Carr, S., Lhussier, M., Forster, N., Geddes., L, Deane, K., Pennington, M., Visram, S., White, M., Michie. S., Donaldson. C., Hildreth, A., (2011). An evidence synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research on component intervention techniques, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, equity and acceptability of different versions of health-related lifestyle advisor role in improving health The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), was set up in 1993. It produces high-quality research information on the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. ‘Health technologies’ are broadly defined as all interventions used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, and improve rehabilitation and long-term care. The research findings from the HTA programme directly influence decision-making bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC). HTA findings also help to improve the quality of clinical practice in the NHS indirectly in that they form a key component of the ‘National Knowledge Service’. The HTA programme is needs led in that it fills gaps in the evidence needed by the NHS. There are three routes to the start of projects.

5 - RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS Burkina Faso agrees research and innovation fund Ouattara, F., (2012), Science and Innovation policy: R&D in Africa The government of Burkina Faso has agreed to set up a fund dedicated to research and innovation, to enable researchers to help meet the country's development needs. The decision to establish the National Fund of Scientific and Innovation Research for Development (NFSIRD) was made during a meeting of the council of ministers last month (15 January), in response to a proposal by science minister Gnissa Isaie Konaté. According to Konaté, the fund will provide secure, durable finance for research and innovation activities. "The main enemy of research is a lack of money," he told SciDev.Net. "When a country stops [its] research activities it [falls behind] and loses the benefits of all the advantages it stored up previously." The fund will be hosted by Burkina Faso's science ministry and administered by a general manager, scientist Roger Honorat Charles Nebie. "We will work at enhancing the value of innovation and technology research results," Nebie told SciDev.Net. He said the fund should raise the profile of government activities in support of research and innovation, and nurture high quality research.

Translating evidence into practice: the role of health research funders Holmes, B., Scarrow, G., Schellenberg, M., (2012). Translating evidence into practice: the role of health research funders, 7(39), 18.

Challenges exist in fulfilling expectations that research evidence results in beneficial impacts for society. However, health agencies are well placed to help maximize the use of evidence in health practice and policy. We propose five key functional areas of KT for health agencies, and encourage partnerships and discussion to advance the

field.

6 – EVENTS Knowledge Policy and Power in International Development: A Practical Guide’ – European Book Launch 

On 1st May 2012 Overseas Development Institute (ODI) will officially launch a new practical book focused on understanding how knowledge, policy and power interact to promote or prevent change in international development. This launch event provides an opportunity to discuss the book's findings and recommendations with experts from the Global South and North, as well as consider ways in which these aspects can be taken forward practically.

7 - RELEVANT TOOLS & LINKS The Registry of Methods and Tools The Registry of Methods and Tools is one way that the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT) supports public health practitioners in using evidence in their practice. Increasing access to resources and supporting practitioners in ‘sharing what works in public health’ is NCCMT core business. The methods and tools can be used alongside the EIDM learning module and the EIPH section of the website to assist practitioners in gaining knowledge and skills for using evidence in decisions as espoused in the Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada (Public Health Agency in Canada).

These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context.

Back to top

EVIPNet Team Evidence and Networks for Health unit (ENH), Knowledge Management Department (KMS), Innovation, Information, Evidence, and Health cluster (IER), World Health Organization. 20, Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, WHO Evidence Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) , Switzerland.

Suggestions for the next edition can be sent to evipnet@who.int.

Subscription via LISTSERV: Please send an e-mail to listserv@who.int with "subscribe evipnetnews firstname and lastname" in the body of the message (without any " "). The subject line can be left blank.

All Rights Reserved. (© 2012) The Global Secretariat of the Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet). World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.evipnet.org/ (EVIPNet Portal, new version available very soon) | http://www.who.int/evidence/ (WHO Evidence-informed policymaking Website) | http://www.who.int/evidence/assessing/sure/ (SURE Website) |