Examining and Contextualizing Approaches to Establish Policy Support Organizations - A Critical Interpretive...

Area of Science:

• Health Policy Research
• Knowledge Translation
• Health Systems Strengthening

Background:

• Growing global demand for evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM).
• Increasing interest from countries in utilizing research for policy development.
• Need for structured guidance in establishing policy support organizations (PSOs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a conceptual framework for establishing policy support organizations (PSOs).
• To guide leaders in creating effective PSOs that support evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM).

Main Methods:

• Critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) of 52 documents.
• Systematic literature search across multiple databases (e.g., EMBASE, Web of Science).
• Iterative synthesis of findings on PSO establishment and influencing factors.

Main Results:

• Identified a four-stage interconnected process for PSO establishment: awareness, development, assessment, and maturation.
• Highlighted the iterative nature of PSO establishment.
• Found that political, research, and health systems factors influence resource availability and trust, impacting the process.

Conclusions:

• The developed framework serves as a roadmap for establishing PSOs.
• Leaders can use the framework to refine PSO scope and operations.
• Future research should extend the framework to non-health sectors.