Fostering Knowledge Implementation Links Project

Policy-making is an endeavor in which numerous issues often vie for a very limited set of resources and attention. Policy-makers are confronted with difficult choices and have the responsibility of taking crucial decisions which can have significant impacts. Political agendas, socio-economic constraints and global influences play their part in determining which issues get prioritized and which ones take a backseat. Directly or indirectly, and at various levels, they also influence how we choose to address these problems. Decisions about how we deal with such issues are also often based on our experiences, our judgment or professional expertise. In many countries in recent years, there is an increasing trend of shifting from purely opinion-based decision-making to evidence-based practice. Though one must  be wary of using research selectively to justify favored policy positions or push pre-conceived approaches for tackling these issues of concern, it cannot be denied that policies and programmes that draw upon objective, reliable and verifiable research evidence to complement experiential learning are likely to be more successful and effective in achieving the desired results. 

Towards this objective, the 'Fostering Knowledge-Implementation Links' Project, a joint initiative of the Centre for Public Policy at IIMB, and the Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project (KHSDRP), has been commissioned as part of the ongoing efforts by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services, Government of Karnataka, to facilitate greater interaction between different actors working on health issues in the state. It focuses on building bridges between the academic and research community and the government in order to: (i) broaden the evidence base for public health programmes in Karnataka, (ii) identify knowledge gaps in contemporary research on health and health system issues in the state, and (iii) create a more responsive and contextually relevant research agenda to aid policy-making.

The project has been engaging with researchers and practitioners to identify high-quality health research from Karnataka, besides using additional library and electronic database searches to supplement the effort, in order to strengthen the evidence base for public health policy and programmes in the state and encourage informed debate and decision-making in policy circles. We have created a repository of policy-relevant research including journal publications, reports, working papers, policy briefs, discussion drafts and reviews that will be a very useful reference to interested researchers and policymakers. A selected choice of policy-relevant research will be presented for discussion during three consultative workshops this year. These workshops will bring together representatives from government, leading academic and research institutions, non-government organizations, professional associations, healthcare providers, independent researchers and consultants working on health issues in the state and provide a forum to share knowledge and experiences, discuss research findings and deliberate on how these can be best translated to succinct policy recommendations that are pragmatic and contextually relevant.