Bridging the worlds of research and policy in European health systems

Policy makers need to access up-to-date and high-quality health system information. Stakeholders may try to influence health policy as well as make decisions within their own area of work. Both groups want easily obtainable and clear evidence based on systematic and transparent research methods. Knowledge brokers (including researchers) want to know how to best communicate to decision-makers and need information about policy priorities in order to inform policy processes and share health system information effectively.

The purpose of this book is to spark innovation in knowledge brokering and to encourage debate on how information is prepared and how it will be understood and used. Part I looks at knowledge brokering from different vantage points and part II describes knowledge brokering in action.

It is hoped that this book will give health system policy-makers, stakeholders and researchers a clear understanding of knowledge brokering and its implications for the organization and management of health information systems.

This book results from a study on knowledge-brokering practices in Europe that was undertaken between 2009 and 2011, called BRIDGE (Scoping study of approaches to Brokering knowledge and Research Information to support the Development and Governance of health systems in Europe).