[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/who-knowledge-translation-research-agen... ]
Dear HIFA colleagues,
I would like to highlight a number of points made in WHO's official launch webinar of the Global Research Agenda on Knowledge Translation and Evidence-informed Policy-making. Tikki Pang (who drafted the WHO letter of support for HIFA back in 2006) and Rob Terry (who is HIFA's lead contact at TDR) were among the panellists. I add a comment below.
The full recording is available here: https://who.zoom.us/rec/share/a6fR04kjea00Opx8TVxXWiaMiHRFrnBj1cFIma19DC...
INTERVENTIONS - ORDERED BY PRIORITY
institutionalization
evaluation
public health emergencies
assessing capacity, strengthening interventions, including adaptation scale up.
strategies for scaling up Kt and Apa interventions in general.
identifying, developing, and assessing evidence to policy, engagement mechanisms and best practices.
improvement of communication of research findings
BARRIERS, FACILITATORS AND OPPORTUNITIES
examine contextual factors in research uptake
analyze factors determining the engagement of decision makers in evidence uptake
integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion
understand approaches for policy learning and transferring of successful Kt and eip approaches
engage individuals with lived experience in knowledge, generation, and translation.
investigate factors that affect the relationships between the generators, intermediaries, and users of evidence as well as citizens.
METHOD STANDARDS, MEASUREMENTS USING FRAMEWORK
artificial intelligence
decolonization
explore methods for intersecting Kt and eip with basic science, clinical practice, public health, political science
integrating and harmonizing local and global knowledge in the in the Kt process and to improve evidence, contextualization.
typologies, metrics, and standardizations for Kt and eip approaches
NEXT STEPS
Funding
partnerships and collaboration
KT teaching and training
M&E
develop implementation plans
COMMENTS
1. The speaker noted that the list under Interventions is ordered by priority. I would put 'improvement of communication of research findings' at the top of the list, not the bottom :-)
2. Angela Betnarek, Director Scientific Advancement at the Pew Charital Trust in the US noted: "These are big questions that can be addressed with lots of people coming together". HIFA is doing just this: bringing people together across the global evidence ecosystem to address how to improve knowledge translation.
3. The William T Grant Foundation was identified as a big suppoorter of knowledge translation. I look forward to exploring possibilities that they might support HIFA, perhaps our WHO Collaboration Plan 2025-2027? If anyone has a contact, please let us know.
4. Catherine Oliver, Professor of Evidence and Policy at the London School of hygiene and tropical medicine in the Uk and also a director of the NIHR Policy Research program in the Uk made some very good points: 'be aware of what is already out there, ensure that when you're investing new research funding, be sure that you're addressing a genuine evidence gap before investing in new activities'.
5. I learned about the Science of Actionable Knowledge Group, headed up by James Arnott, which conducts rigorous research on how science is produced and used in decisions and actions. https://www.scienceofactionableknowledge.org/
6. Rose Oronje, African Institute for Development Policy noted 'there's so many conferences this year on the Continent on evidence. There are 2 next month, and then there's another one in September, and I think there's another one later in the year. How do we use these platforms to have forums where we talk about this global this agenda to bring in issues that align with our context.' We should be building and strengthening 24/7 communication *in-between* conferences through communities of practice like HIFA.
7. Rob Terry mentioned that TDR will soon be making a call to support some research projects in this area. We'll keep an eye on this and will forward any info to you.
8. 'The Global Research Agenda on Knowledge Translation (KT) and Evidence-informed Policy-making (EIP) is an initiative led by WHO to identify and define research priorities in the fields of KT and EIP and establish a comprehensive research agenda for these areas.' It will be developed over the coming years. It appears to focus on evidence-informed policy, but of course the needs are even greater for evidence-informed healthcare.
WHO says: To stay informed about future updates, events, and opportunities to engage, we warmly invite you to:
• Visit our website; https://www.who.int/initiatives/evidence-informed-policy-network/the-evi...
• Explore the Global Coalition for Evidence; https://www.who.int/initiatives/global-coalition-for-evidence
• Join the Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Group on LinkedIn.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org