Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, 1 University Drive Athabasca, Athabasca, AB, T9S 3A3, Canada.
Mental Health Commission of Canada, 350 Albert Street, Suite 1210, Ottawa, ON, K1R 1A4, Canada.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2022 May 7;20(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12961-022-00857-8.
BACKGROUND: Timely knowledge mobilization has become increasingly critical during the COVID-19 pandemic and complicated by the need to establish or maintain lines of communication between researchers and decision-makers virtually. Our recent pan-Canadian research study on the mental health and substance use health (MHSUH) workforce during the pandemic identified key policy barriers impacting this essential workforce. To bridge the evidence-policy gap in addressing these barriers, we held a facilitated virtual policy dialogue. This paper discusses the insights generated at this virtual policy dialogue and highlights how this integrated knowledge mobilization strategy can help drive evidence-based policy in an increasingly digital world. METHODS: We held a 3-hour virtual policy dialogue with 46 stakeholders and policy decision-makers as the final phase in our year-long mixed-methods research study. The event was part of our integrated knowledge mobilization strategy and was designed to generate stakeholder-driven policy implications and priority actions based on our research findings. The data collected from the virtual policy dialogue included transcripts from the small-group breakout rooms and main sessions, reflective field notes and the final report from the external facilitator. Coded data were thematically analysed to inform our understanding of the prioritization of the policy implications and action items. RESULTS: Facilitated virtual policy dialogues generate rich qualitative insights that guide community-informed knowledge mobilization strategies and promote evidence-informed policy. Our policy dialogue identified actionable policy recommendations with equity as a cross-cutting theme. Adapting policy dialogues to virtual formats and including technology-assisted facilitation can offer advantages for equitable stakeholder participation, allow for deeper analysis and help build consensus regarding evidence-based policy priorities. CONCLUSIONS: Our facilitated virtual policy dialogue was a key knowledge mobilization strategy for our research on the capacity of the Canadian MHSUH workforce to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our policy dialogue allowed us to engage a diverse group of MHSUH workforce stakeholders in a meaningful action-oriented way, provided an avenue to get feedback on our research findings, and generated prioritized action items that incorporated the knowledge and experience of these MHSUH workforce stakeholders.
背景:在 COVID-19 大流行期间,及时的知识转化变得越来越重要,而在虚拟环境中建立或维持研究人员和决策者之间的沟通渠道的需求也使得情况变得更加复杂。我们最近在加拿大进行的一项关于大流行期间心理健康和物质使用健康(MHSUH)劳动力的泛加研究确定了影响这一重要劳动力的关键政策障碍。为了缩小解决这些障碍的证据与政策之间的差距,我们举办了一个促进的虚拟政策对话。本文讨论了在这次虚拟政策对话中产生的见解,并强调了这种综合知识转化策略如何在日益数字化的世界中帮助推动基于证据的政策。
方法:我们与 46 名利益相关者和政策决策者进行了为期 3 小时的虚拟政策对话,这是我们为期一年的混合方法研究的最后阶段。该活动是我们综合知识转化策略的一部分,旨在根据我们的研究结果生成由利益相关者驱动的政策影响和优先行动。从小组 breakout 室和主要会议、反思性实地记录和外部协调人提交的最终报告中收集了虚拟政策对话的数据。对编码数据进行了主题分析,以了解我们对政策影响和行动项目的优先级的理解。
结果:促进的虚拟政策对话产生了丰富的定性见解,指导社区知情的知识转化策略,并促进基于证据的政策。我们的政策对话确定了具有公平性的可操作政策建议作为贯穿各领域的主题。将政策对话适应虚拟格式并包括技术辅助协调,可以为公平的利益相关者参与提供优势,允许更深入的分析,并有助于就基于证据的政策重点达成共识。
结论:我们的促进虚拟政策对话是我们关于加拿大 MHSUH 劳动力应对 COVID-19 大流行能力的研究的一个关键知识转化策略。我们的政策对话使我们能够以有意义的、面向行动的方式让多样化的 MHSUH 劳动力利益相关者参与进来,为我们的研究结果提供了反馈的途径,并生成了优先的行动项目,这些项目纳入了这些 MHSUH 劳动力利益相关者的知识和经验。
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