Engaging public health decision makers in partnership research

Abstract

Objective Involving decision makers in collaborative research part-nerships can help increase the relevance and timeliness of the research question, and ensure the results are more readily applied in practice. These partnerships offer great benefits but also unique challenges. We will discuss some of these challenges, as identified from our recent study (Canadian Institutes of Health Research FRN 101867, 126353) and the growing literature on engaging decision-makers in knowledge translation (KT) research. We will also recommend strategies for ensur-ing a successful partnership. Methods We collaborated with three Canadian public health departments to enhance capacity for and facilitate organi-zational contexts conducive to evidence-informed decision making (EIDM). The research team and decision-maker partners jointly developed the research questions and KT strategies, tailored to each partner's organizational needs and goals. Intervention effectiveness was assessed via quantitative (online survey, in-person assessment) and qualitative (interviews, reflective journal entries, case study notes) data; this discussion has been informed, in part, by the qualitative analysis.