Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Surgery, and Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Rockville, Maryland, USA U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease ...

Research projects demonstrating ways to improve health services often fail to have an impact on what national health programmes actually do. An approach to evidence-based policy development has been launched in Ghana which bridges the gap between research and programme implementation. After nearly two decades of national debate and investigation into appropriate strategies for service delivery ...

Background Fifteen years ago in Health Services Research (1999) qualitative research methods were argued to be useful and valid. Since that time qualitative research methods have gained increasing legitimacy however qualitative research papers remain underrepresented in high impact health journals [1]. The rigour of qualitative methods and their relevance in policy evaluation and development is...

There is a growing body of literature about the barriers to, and enablers of, the use of research evidence in policy and practice. Research funders are in a unique position to influence activities aimed at promoting research use. During the past decade, NSW (New South Wales) Health has systematically built and invested in an integrated population and health services research portfolio made up o...

RESEARCH IS KEY IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGE.” THAT’S HOW DR. BRIAN Postl begins a conversation on strategies to ensure a stable and reliable bridge between researchers and policy makers in healthcare. He suggests “evidence” as one of four themes that the journal Healthcare Policy should consider as it looks at knowledge and its impact on policy and practice. And he is quick to agree that we need ...