Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Community-Based Medicine, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Ellen Wilkinson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
Health Policy. 2012 Jun;106(1):97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2012.03.009. Epub 2012 Apr 9.
Public health policy-making activities are currently split between local authority and NHS organisations. Despite an increasing body of research on evidence-based policy (EBP), few studies explore the process of policy-making. Little is known about how policies are made in a local context, or how (scientific) evidence is used. Previous research has ignored the 'human element' in EBP. Social network analysis (SNA) techniques are becoming increasingly important in health policy. This paper describes an innovative study giving a fresh perspective on policy-making processes in public health.
A social network analysis of public health policy making networks in Greater Manchester based on publicly available data (documents, websites and meeting papers) and an electronic survey, asking actors to nominate those who influenced their own views, those who were powerful, and those who were a source of evidence or information.
Policy-making networks are described. Formal executive roles are loosely related to perceived influence and power. Evidence-seeking networks are less coherent, with key organisations not represented. These data indicate the importance of collaboration and good relationships between researchers and policy-makers, but few academic researchers with a direct impact on health policy were identified within the networks.
公共卫生决策制定活动目前由地方当局和国民保健制度组织共同负责。尽管有越来越多的循证政策（EBP）研究，但很少有研究探讨决策制定过程。人们对如何在地方背景下制定政策以及如何使用（科学）证据知之甚少。先前的研究忽视了 EBP 中的“人为因素”。社会网络分析（SNA）技术在卫生政策中变得越来越重要。本文描述了一项创新性研究，为公共卫生决策制定过程提供了新的视角。
基于公开数据（文件、网站和会议文件）和电子调查，对大曼彻斯特地区的公共卫生政策制定网络进行社会网络分析，要求参与者提名那些影响他们自己观点、有影响力和提供证据或信息的人。
描述了决策制定网络。正式的行政角色与感知的影响力和权力松散相关。寻求证据的网络不太连贯，关键组织没有代表。这些数据表明研究人员和决策者之间合作和良好关系的重要性，但在网络中没有发现对卫生政策有直接影响的少数学术研究人员。
