Journal of health services research & policy
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Oct 2002
ReviewHealth policy-makers' perceptions of their use of evidence: a systematic review.
The empirical basis for theories and common wisdom regarding how to improve appropriate use of research evidence in policy decisions is unclear. One source of empirical evidence is interview studies with policy-makers. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the evidence from interview studies of facilitators of, and barriers to, the use of research evidence by health policy-makers. ⋯ Interview studies with health policy-makers provide only limited support for commonly held beliefs about facilitators of, and barriers to, their use of evidence, and raise questions about commonsense proposals for improving the use of research for policy decisions. Two-way personal communication, the most common suggestion, may improve the appropriate use of research evidence, but it might also promote selective (inappropriate) use of research evidence.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Oct 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEvaluation of a complex intervention for changing professional behaviour: the Evidence Based Out Reach (EBOR) Trial.
To identify the effect of a complex intervention (educational outreach visits by pharmacists) designed to change general practitioners' (GPs') prescribing on each step of a hypothesised pathway of change leading to the final primary trial outcome of change in prescribing. ⋯ Although our study is limited by a post hoc rather than a pre hoc design, it provides a pragmatic approach to understanding the factors influencing the pathway of change in prescribing behaviour in response to academic outreach visits.