Dear Richard (Fitton) and all,
Thank you for citing examples of health research that have had an impact on health, including John Snow, Edward Jenner, and Ignaz Semmelweis.
I'd like to turn our attention specifically to examples of how research is communicated.
John Snow is a good example. In 1854 he identified a water pump in London as the likely source of a cholera outbreak, based on mapping deaths in the vicinity and interviewing residents. He wrote to the editor of the Medical Times and Gazette:
"On proceeding to the spot, I found that nearly all the deaths had taken place within a short distance of the [Broad Street] pump...
The result of the inquiry, then, is, that there has been no particular outbreak or prevalence of cholera in this part of London except among the persons who were in the habit of drinking the water of the above-mentioned pump well. I had an interview with the Board of Guardians of St James's parish, on the evening of the 7th inst [7 September], and represented the above circumstances to them. In consequence of what I said, the handle of the pump was removed on the following day."
He included a map of the nearby streets, showing the locations of each death. Clearly this was sufficient to get the authorities (policymakers) to act. And all this was before the work of Pasteur, Koch and others established germ theory (whereby infections are caused by micro-organisms).
What about the millions of research paeprs that are published every year in the current era?
How well are these papers communicated?
I would like to invite HIFA members to describe a piece of research in which you were involved, perhaps as a co-author. How did you communicate this research? Did you publish in a peer-reviewed journal, and then move on to your next project? Or did you take action to raise the visibility of the research? Perhaps you listed and made contact with selected stakeholders, as suggested by Sam Sieber? Perhaps you issued a press release? Or contributed to a policy brief? Have you used social media to communicate your findings? What have you found to be most effective in communicating your research?
MY EXPERIENCE
I am not a researcher but have been involved in a systematic review, a qualitative study of HIFA discussions, a position paper for WHO, a white paper with HIFA and the New York Law School, and several analysis/advocacy papers. I don't think any of them have had a direct impact on policymaking (whether with a big P or a small p).
The position paper for WHO (written with Fiona Godlee and colleagues in 2004) apparently stimulated much discussion internally, but I believe its main impact was to provide the rationale for HIFA, which was subsequently lanched in 2006.
Our white paper with the New York Law School (2012) demonstrated that governments have a legal obligation under international human rights law to ensure their citizens have access to reliable healthcare information, and yet it has had no demonstrable impact on policymakers. Indeed it was tragic to see, during COVID-19, how some heads of state not only ignored this repsonsibility but actively spread harmful misinformation.
In 2020 I co-authored a viewpoint/analysis paper with Geoff Royston and Chris Zielinski, where we argued that 'All stakeholders need to work together to accelerate progress towards universal access to essential health information; a catalyst for this would be the inclusion of universal access to essential health information in the relevant SDG target and associated monitoring indicators for UHC, a step that WHO could usefully endorse'. We failed to get the attention of the relevant stakeholders.
Have you published a paper (or several)? Did it have the impact you hoped for?
Please email your experience to: hifa@hifaforums.org
Best wishes, Neil
Joint Coordinator, HIFA Communicating health research https://www.hifa.org/projects/new-effective-communication-health-researc...
Let's build a future where every person has access to reliable healthcare information and is protected from misinformation - Join HIFA: www.hifa.org
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of the HIFA global health movement (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ), a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting on six global forums in four languages in collaboration with WHO. HIFA brings stakeholders together to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK based non-profit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Twitter: @hifa_org neil AT hifa.org
