Findings from health research ought to play a role in informing health policy formulation. Over the years much health research has been conducted both in developing and developed countries. However, little is known on how health research has informed health policy formulation. The study sought to review health research findings at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing and health policies of the Ministry of Health in Malawi, and based on the results, develop a communication and dissemination strategy as indicated by the study objectives. The study focused on exploring the extent of research use in policy formulation by evaluating sampled policies. It established from both researchers and policy makers their views regarding communication of research findings to policy makers, and how the two work together during conceptualisation, carrying out research and disseminating the findings. It sought to identify ways that the translation of research findings into policy formulation could be facilitated. The study is informed by the Knowledge Translation theoretical framework. It adopted the pragmatism philosophical paradigm which advocates for 'what works’. The convergent parallel mixed method strategy was used to gather both qualitative and quantitative data for the study. The population of the study comprised of researchers and academics at the University of Malawi, health research partners in Malawi and directors at the Ministry of Health in Malawi. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through self-administered questionnaires (246 academics and researchers), semi-structured interviews (17 directors from the Ministry of Health and relevant research institutes), a self-administered self-assessment tool (10 purposively selected directors from the Ministry of Health and from research institutes) and a health policy assessment tool. Qualitative data was analysed through content analysis while quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for both descriptive and inferential analysis. The data were supplemented with a search strategy through Scopus. The findings revealed that health researchers rarely interact with policy makers. Health researchers prefer publishing in journals, attending conferences and informally interacting with policy and decision makers. Policy makers rely on the use of Internet, reviews of previous policies, internal evaluations, data from the national statistical office, registries and information centres at the ministries for policy information. However, the study revealed in designing the communication and dissemination strategy based on 'what works’, that researchers work in research groups while policy makers work in technical work groups. The interaction between researchers and policy makers in the technical working groups informs the transfer of health research into policy-making. The study makes contributions to theory, practice and policy formulation. In terms of contribution towards the KTA framework, the study examined forms of formal interaction that may result in the transfer of health research information into policy and practice. The study indicates that formal interaction in the technical expert groups is one of such interactions that would facilitate the use of health research evidence in policy formulation. In terms of practice, the study recommends that there should be deliberate efforts by researchers in the research groups and policy makers at the technical working groups to formally engage each other. In terms of policy formulation, the study recommends that a proper interaction framework needs to be put in place for formal interactions between health researchers working in their research work groups and policy makers in the technical working groups.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/29810 |
| Date | 25 February 2019 |
| Creators | Mapulanga, Patrick Makono |
| Contributors | Raju, Jayarani, Matingwina, Thomas |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Library and Information Studies Centre (LISC) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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