Improving the fit between research and practice in health promotion: overcoming structural barriers

This paper is based on the proposition that transfer of knowledge between researchers and practitioners concerning effective health promotion interventions in less than optimal. It considers how evidence concerning effectiveness in health promotion is established through a sequence of research studies, and how such evidence is applied by health promotion practitioners and policy markers in deciding what to do and what to found when addressing public health problems. There are too few rewards for researchers to pursue research with potential for widespread application, and to systematically develop promising interventions to a stage of field dissemination. Practitioners often find themselves in the position of tackling a public health problem where evidence of efficacy is either lacking, or has to be considered alongside a desire to respond to expressed community needs, or the need to respond to political imperative. Some of the major structural barriers which prevent the flow of research into practice are considered, and different approaches to improving the fit between research and practice are proposed.