[EQ] How Can We Support the Use of Systematic Reviews in Policymaking?

How Can We Support the Use of Systematic Reviews in Policymaking?

John N. Lavis

1 McMaster Health Forum, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,
2 Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,
3 Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,
4 Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

PLoS Medicine | www.plosmedicine.org -- November 2009 | Volume 6 | Issue 11 | e1000141

Available online OPDF file [6p.] at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2777391/pdf/pmed.1000141.pdf

“…….In the last few years the landscape has changed dramatically for policymakers seeking to use research evidence in the policymaking process.
The landscape has also changed for the many stakeholders seeking to use research evidence to influence the policymaking process. The task once seemed overwhelming given the dearth of synthesized research evidence on the ‘‘big’’, typically multifaceted, questions that matter to policymakers and stakeholders [1,2]. Now it isn’t uncommon for these groups to find dozens of systematic reviews that address the governance, financial, and delivery arrangements within health systems that can determine whether a cost-effective program, service, or drug reaches those who need it…..”

Summary Points

·         Policymakers need many types of research evidence—synthesized and packaged for them—and the use of this evidence supported in multiple complementary ways. Stakeholders who seek to influence the policymaking process have the same requirements.

·         Policymakers and stakeholders need many types of systematic reviews. For example, reviews of qualitative studies can help to identify alternative framings of the problem, to understand how or why a policy or program option works, and to appreciate stakeholders’ perspectives on particular options.

·         Policymakers and stakeholders now have access to many review-derived products:
(1) summaries of systematic reviews highlighting decision-relevant information;
(2) overviews of systematic reviews providing a ‘‘map’’ of the policy questions addressed by systematic reviews and the insights derived from them; and
(3) policy briefs drawing on many systematic reviews to characterize a problem, policy or program options to address the problem, and implementation strategies.

·         A range of activities are being undertaken to support the use of reviews and review-derived products in policymaking, all of which warrant rigorous evaluation.

·         Future challenges include:
(1) examining whether and when any apparent duplication of efforts occurs in the production of review-derived products at the international level; and
(2) scaling up activities that are found to be effective in supporting the use of reviews and review-derived products in policymaking

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