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. 2021 Jun 27;10(1):190.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-021-01745-y.

A scoping review of researchers' involvement in health policy dialogue in Africa

Doris Yimgang  1 , Georges Danhoundo  2 , Elizabeth Kusi-Appiah  3 , Vijit Sunder  4 , Sandra Campbell  3 , Sanni Yaya  5   6
Affiliations

A scoping review of researchers' involvement in health policy dialogue in Africa

Doris Yimgang et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Background: Improving evidence-informed policy dialogue to support the development and implementation of national health policies is vital, but there is limited evidence on researchers' roles in policy dialogue processes in Africa. The objective of this study is to examine researchers' involvement in health policy dialogue in Africa.

Methods: The database search of this scoping review was conducted from inception to January 24, 2021, by an expert searcher/librarian to determine the extent of evidence, barriers, and facilitators of researchers' involvement in health policy dialogues in Africa. PROSPERO, Wiley Cochrane Library, OVID Medline, OVID EMBASE, OVID PsycINFO, OVID Global Health, EBSCO CINAHL, BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine), and Google/Google Scholar were searched using key words representing the concepts "policy dialogue", "health", and "Africa". No limits were applied. A narrative summary of results was presented.

Results: There were 26 eligible studies representing 21 African countries. Significant discrepancies in researchers' involvement existed across countries. In 62% of the countries, there was suboptimal involvement of researchers in policy dialogues due to no or partial participation in policy dialogues. Major barriers included limited funding, lack of evidence in the public health field of interest, and skepticism of policymakers. The presence of an interface for exchange, demand for scientific evidence, and donors' funding were the most reported facilitators.

Conclusions: To improve the uptake of evidence in health policy-making processes, an environment of trust and communication between policymakers and researchers must be established. Policymakers need to demonstrate that they value research, by providing adequate funding, promoting knowledge translation activities, and supporting personal and professional development opportunities for researchers.

Keywords: Africa; Barriers; Facilitators; Health policy dialogue; Researchers’ involvement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Summary of triggering factors, barriers, and facilitators of researchers’ involvement in policy dialogue
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