Communicating evidence for policy-making

Description

This method provides practical strategies for communicating evidence to inform policy-making. By bridging the distinct cultures, needs and goals of research and policy-making, this report can be used to effectively communicate evidence to influence policy. "You say 'to-may-to(e)' and I say 'to-mah-to(e):'" Bridging the Communications Gap Between Researchers and Policy-Makers report supports bringing evidence into policy.

This proceedings report compiles discussion and key points from a workshop sponsored by the Canadian Population Health Initiative with the Canadian Adolescents at Risk Research Network. The workshop brought together decision-makers, policy-makers, researchers and stakeholders working in youth health to facilitate communication and knowledge translation. This resource provides information on:

• the policy-making process;
• strategies for presenting evidence and engaging with policy-makers; and
• case examples of creating policy implications.

Steps for Using Method/Tool

This resource consists of three major sections.

1) The policy process includes the following:

• issue identification
• agenda-setting
• policy design
• implementation
• monitoring
• impact assessment

Research evidence can have a role throughout the policy-making process, such as environmental scanning, analysis, consultation and advocacy, among others.

2) Engaging policy-makers
Research evidence is most likely to be used by policy-makers when it meets the following needs:

• Relevance - addresses questions of interest to policy-makers
• Accessibility - can be easily found and understood by policy-makers
• Immediacy - evidence is provided in a timely manner for current problems
• Usefulness - information provides solutions to problems
• Quality - information is credible and scientifically rigorous
• Collaborative - early and sustained engagement with policy-makers will increase their understanding of the research and their confidence in using it
• Targeted - identifies a specific audience and key messages

Frame evidence according to the following questions to facilitate the uptake of research evidence in policy-making:

• What is the problem?
• Why does it matter?
• What can be done about it?
• How should we do something?
• How will we know it worked?

Use an evidence-based approach to engage decision-makers
A comprehensive list of facts, tips and resources for effectively presenting evidence to decision-makers and policy-makers are summarized on p. 19-21. Some facts highlighted include the following:

• Provide concrete, tangible policy implications of your evidence that provide a solution to a policy issue.
• Evidence that can be piloted on a small scale can be more readily adopted.
• Use plain, non-technical language.
• Tailor evidence to meet the needs of the organizational context.
• Foster relationships with decision-makers to understand their needs.

Create effective messages
Several approaches are discussed on p. 23-26 for creating effective messages, such as:

• social marketing;
• John Lavis model with four versions of your message (headline, sentence, one-paragraph and full-text version);
• Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) approach ("1:3:25") (to see a summary statement in the Registry on CHSRF's approach, click here).

3) Case examples of creating policy implications
Participants worked on creating policy for youth health issues based on research evidence.