Increasing the use of evidence in health policy: practice and views of policy makers and researchers

Table 1 Researchers' views about the impact of research on policy or practice and reported dissemination

	Research findings (n = 41)		Research review (n = 29) ¹
IMPACT OF RESEARCH ON POLICY	n	%	n	%
Own research or reviews have been used to inform policy or practice	27	66	20	69
Had findings that were not used by policy but were potentially important	16	39	NA	NA
Own research increased policy makers' awareness of the issue	24	59	19	66
Own research helped to get the issue on the policy agenda	20	49	13	45
Own research assisted policy makers in formulating the policy issue	19	46	14	48
Own research helped policy makers to identify policy alternatives	17	41	11	38
Own research helped policy makers to choose the preferred policy option	20	49	9	31
Own research used to justify the final policy	20	49	12	41
DISSEMINATION ²
Published in peer review journal	36	88	9	31
Published in report for funding agency	27	66	16	55
Published in report for stakeholders	22	54	10	34
Presented at conference	37	90	10	34
Presented to policy makers	21	51	13	45
Presented to practitioners	26	63	8	28