Background
Methods
Study design and participants
Data collection tool and technique
Self-assessment questionnaire
Group consultation and group presentations
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Group 1: Participants from the FMOH.
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Group 2: Participants from ministries, departments and agencies.
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Group 3: Participants from state ministries of health.
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Group 4: Participants from development partners, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations.
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Group 5: Participants from professional associations and research institutions.
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Individual capacity1.Aptitudes: To strengthen your aptitudes towards the use of research evidence, what are the interventions that are important to you?2.Skills: What types of skills do you need to better use research evidence and research findings?3.Sources of evidence: Which sources of evidence or research results would you like to access to improve your use of research evidence and research findings?4.Formats of evidence: In what formats would you like to receive research evidence and research findings to help you use them?
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Organisational capacity1.Institutional environment: What types of improvements (laws, regulations, service organisation, support, motivation, etc.) do you think are important in your workplace that can help you to better use research evidence and research findings?2.Platforms or mechanisms:a)What types of platforms or mechanisms do you think are important to put in place or reinforce in your workplace to facilitate your access to research evidence and research findings?b)What types of platforms or mechanisms do you think are important to put in place or reinforce in your workplace to facilitate your everyday use of research evidence and research findings?3.Opportunity of use of evidence: What activities in your daily work are opportunities for you to engage in permanent use of research evidence and research findings?4.Needs support: What types of support would you like to receive when you decide to use research evidence and research findings?
Analysis of participants’ response
Results
Biodata and official designation attributes
Parameter assessed | Outcomes (%) |
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Sex | |
Male | 16 (40.0) |
Female | 24 (60.0) |
Total | 40 |
Age category, years | |
25–34 | 4 (11.1) |
35–44 | 9 (25.0) |
>44 | 23 (63.9) |
Total | 36 |
Type of organisation | |
Federal Ministry of Health/ministries, departments and agencies | 18 (45.0) |
State ministries of health | 10 (25.0) |
Non-governmental/civil society organisations | 5 (12.5) |
Development partners | 3 (7.5) |
Others | 4 (10.0) |
Total | 40 |
Designation | |
Director | 23 (59.0) |
Manager/head of department | 5 (12.8) |
Programme/project officer | 11 (28.2) |
Total | 39 |
Duration in designation, years | |
<3 | 15 (37.5) |
3–5 | 18 (45.0) |
6–10 | 5 (12.5) |
>10 | 2 (5.0) |
Total | 40 |
Influence on policymaking process | |
Direct | 23 (59.0) |
Indirect | 16 (41.0) |
Total | 39 |
Individual capacity for use of research evidence
Aptitudes
Aptitudes | Skills | Sources of evidence | Forms of evidence |
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(1) Capacity building such as training, internship to train younger officers, provision of necessary equipment to work with, etc. (2) Incentives such as reward, promotion (3) Networking through information sharing (4) Intersectoral and intrasectoral coordination (5) Create an enabling environment that supports the use of evidence in the workplace (6) Ability to generate high level evidence from randomised controlled trials, intervention research and systematic reviews (7) Ability to identify relevant policy areas/gaps for research | (1) Information communication technology skills (2) Information gathering, data analysis and interpretation (3) Communication skills-written and verbal (4) Scientific writing and communication (5) Research methodology (6) Advocacy skills (7) Individual capacity to know the types of evidence, sources of evidence and level of evidence (8) Capacity identify research evidence (extract, synthesise and present research evidence) (9) Skills of critical literature review, understanding basic statistics | (1) Publications –journals, surveys, books (2) Library – hard and soft copies (3) Internet/electronic resources for articles and journals (4) Dissemination forums for research findings (5) Development of local database of research | (1) Hardcopies – summaries/abstract and prose report (2) Newsletters and videos (3) Success stories and testimonials (4) Policy briefs/leaflets (5) Scientific meeting and publications from conference proceedings (6) Knowledge sharing and feedback mechanisms |
Skills required
Sources of evidence
Forms of evidence
Organisational capacity for use of research evidence
Institutional environment to enhance use of evidence
Institutional environment | Platforms or mechanisms | Opportunity of use of evidence | Support needs |
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(1) Ethical/regulatory guidelines (2) Proper documentation of research, including data inventory (3) Improved monitoring and evaluation (4) Having a stakeholder forum for dissemination of research findings (5) Improved funding for policy-relevant research (6) Political will for implementation of National Health Act, national health policy and national health research policy (7) Having a resource centre or well-managed library with focal staff, who circulate research/reports and evidence to staff (8) Enact laws/regulations on the utilisation of research evidence | (1) Website for storing and giving access to research works (2) Provision of a national database (3) Joint appointment between academia (research institutions) and health ministry (e.g. sabbaticals/secondment) (4) Functional health management information system/database (5) Accountability mechanisms at state and national levels (6) Provision of access to internet connectivity and online library (7) Availability of platforms for interactions between policymakers and research institutions regularly (8) Use of policy briefs, factsheets, etc. | (1) Policy change (2) Proposal writing and report writing (3) Monitoring and evaluation of activities (4) Making use of best practice and evaluation of their use to provide feedback and raise further research questions (5) Planning of programmes and implementation of activities (6) Decision-making and policy development | (1) Effective communication plan/strategy to disseminate research/evidence (including professional bodies) (2) Networking and collaboration (3) Physical infrastructure –conducive working environment (4) Funding and availability of evidence-based tools and resources to implement (5) Financial resources to carry out research, etc. (6) Human resources –technical support, statistical skills (7) Information communication technology (8) Logistics such as means of transportation, etc. (9) Opportunities to attend conferences and seminars |
Platforms or mechanisms to facilitate use of evidence
Opportunity of use of evidence
Support needs to use of evidence
Organisational initiatives relevant to evidence-informed policymaking
Mechanisms | Processes | Tools | Strategies | Platforms |
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(1) Data collection of MNCH (2) Strategic knowledge management (3) Department of Planning, Research and Statistics (4) Stakeholders meeting to discuss issues (5) Institutional review board (6) External stakeholders/review feedback mechanism (7) Annual conferences | (1) Engagement of relevant stakeholders (2) Identification of problem, formation of research intervention, dissemination results (3) Process for evaluating the research proposal (4) Research priorities defined (5) Regular tracking of programme indicators | (1) Forms for use in data collection (2) Workers guideline (3) Health management information service (4) Various data tools adapted for the Federal Ministry of Health (5) Research and evaluation briefs (6) Score cards (7) Association journals | (1) Evaluation of results of data submitted (2) Training and capacity building (3) Consultative meeting with stakeholders (4) E-library to access international journals (5) Internal dissemination of evidence to programme (6) Evidence-based advocacy | (1) Research division of strategic knowledge management department (2) Management meetings (3) Using task force committee (4) Meetings of core technical committee for MNCH (5) Stakeholders forum (6) E-learning platforms and data repositories (7) Research utilisation department (8) Internal archival systems |
Key barriers to evidence use
Key barriers to use of research evidence | Key facilitators of use of research evidence |
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- No systematic way/mechanism of use of research in MNCH intervention - Inadequate capacity of the organisation to conduct research that may lead to use - Limited or inadequate funding/budgetary allocation for research - Some output of research may not be of much use in programmes as they may not answer the specific questions we have - No written policy that mandates staff to base memo, proposal, etc. on evidence - Inadequate facilities for implementation - Inadequate capacity of the policymakers - Corruption and political interference - Poor political will - Weak linkages with researcher and policymaker - Lack of capacity building of policymaker on importance of research - Poor dissemination of documented research results and evidence - Non-involvement of policymakers from the beginning of research - Non-communication of research outcomes to policymaker - No interaction forum between the researchers and policymakers - Research is subject to donor rules - Research priorities are donor-driven | - Capacity building of policymakers on use of research in policy formulation - Making a policy that will make a provision of budget for research - Making a policy that will make the use of evidence in policymaking mandatory - Affiliation with an academic institution in area of generation of evidence, its interpretation and utilisation - More training/stakeholder meetings involving policymakers - Incorporate policymakers when planning and developing research - Appropriate dissemination of the research findings to relevant stakeholders - Policy should be instituted to ensure every implementation of government projects must be evidence based - Strengthening of the departments of Health Planning, Research and Strategies to play effective role in promoting research work and use - Institution of an annual forum for presentation and consideration of research work/results for possible adoption and incorporation into policymaking process - Creating a forum between the academics and policymakers - Allowing the policymakers needs to drive research projects |