Using knowledge translation to enhance the use of evidence in public health decision-making by policymakers and healthcare managers in Ireland

Health policy refers to decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific health care goals within a society. Using high-quality evidence to inform how health policies are made is crucial to ensure safe and effective healthcare and to optimise patient and public health outcomes. Despite this, international research consistently shows that evidence is poorly used by those who develop policy and make decisions about healthcare delivery and services on a population level. This includes people like public health policymakers within the Department of Health or senior healthcare managers within the health service. However, the use of evidence within public health decision-making and how to support and improve its use has not been previously explored within an Irish context.

This project aims to enhance the use of evidence within public health decision-making in Ireland by developing recommendations to be applied within a national setting.

  1. In order to achieve this, we will:Compile information from existing studies that have examined which strategies work to improve the use of evidence within high-level public health decision-making
  2. Survey national policymakers and healthcare managers to identify the current use of evidence within public health decision-making in Ireland and what is needed
  3. Conduct individual interviews with national policymakers and healthcare managers to increase our understanding of how evidence is currently used in Irish public health decision-making, the factors that influence this and how it can be improved
  4. We will then bring together the findings of steps 1-3 to develop recommendations to enhance the use of evidence within public health decision-making in Ireland. Involving highly influential national decision-makers (e.g. from the Department of Health) as key members of our research team throughout the project will help ensure maximum impact of our findings and support the application of findings into a national setting.
Award Date
26 June 2020
Award Value
€249,518.92
Principal Investigator
Professor Elaine Toomey
Host Institution
National University of Ireland, Galway
Scheme
ARPP 2020