Shoshanna Sofaer DrPH • September 30, 2013
During this health system evolution, and in the current fiscal climate, public officials are looking for solid evidence of what works to guide their funding and policy decisions. And researchers doing PHSSR want to contribute evidence to guide and assess this decision- making. However, the timely distribution of evidence is inhibited by such barriers as the lengthy process for, and traditional focus on, peer-reviewed publication. In other words, doing relevant, high quality research is necessary but not sufficient to making a difference in improving population health. Regularly translating findings and disseminating them to decision makers is becoming an essential component of the research process, and researchers are looking for more ways to provide direct evidence to support informed, real-time policy decisions.
The guide is based on a presentation by Lisa Simpson, Shoshanna Sofaer, and Margo Edmunds at the 2013 PHSSR Keeneland Conference in Lexington, KY. The presentation and this guide were both developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to guide researchers through the decisions that must be addressed to effectively translate and disseminate their work to policymakers and public health practitioners.
Click here to download the the guide.