1 Identifying Effective Approaches to Translate Knowledge on Health Equity to Health System Decision and Policy-Makers

May 27, 2014 Presented by, Christine Boyes Policy Analyst, Canadian Population Health Initiative Masters of Public Administration Candidate, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia 2

Identified Problem Improving population health and health equity is appearing more consistently within the mission, vision and value statements of regional health authorities across Canada than in the past Health inequities are being addressed in numerous health regions across Canada –Not happening evenly between and within the provinces and territories Barriers to the use of health equity information and research 3

Objectives Identify effective approaches of moving knowledge on health equity into action Improve the capacity of health system policy-makers, policy analysts and decision- makers at the provincial and regional levels to consider health equity when making program and policy design decisions 4

Methods 5 Part 1 - Analysis of theoretical and practice- based knowledge translation literature Part 2- Environmental scan of online health equity-related resources Part 3- Development of content for an online health equity course Part 4- Expert review of course contentPart 5 - End-user pilot

Part 1- Findings from Literature Review Limited health equity-related knowledge translation literature Concepts of knowledge translation are increasingly being applied to more complex decision making environments (e.g. Public Health) Passive knowledge translation strategies found to be ineffective (e.g. Mail outs, print material, etc.) No “one size fits all” knowledge translation strategy Important to understand decision making context and characteristics of targeted stakeholders 6

Part 1- Findings from Literature Review Barriers to implementation of a health equity agenda: –Interest-related –Ideological –Institutional –Informational Information-related barriers: –Complexity of social determinants of health evidence –Policy-makers and decision-makers research capacity –Researchers presentation of research information and data –Lack of evidence relating to health equity interventions and strategies 7

Recommendations based on Literature Review Tailor KT strategies for different stakeholders Adapt messaging of products for different stakeholders Attempt to better understand the decision making and organizational context of end-users Avoid passive knowledge translation strategies Build capacity of decision and policy-makers to understand and use health equity and social determinant of health related concepts, information, and data 8

Part 2- Environmental Scan Assess the online resources, tools and education courses Criteria for assessing the courses were: –Accessibility –Relevance to target audience –Comprehensiveness Limited to publicly available resources Credit courses offered by universities were excluded 9

Part 2- Findings from Environmental Scan Many resources related to health equity Limited instructional resources aimed at decision and policy-makers Example: –How to interpret and apply evidence of health inequities or health disparities (health equity-related data) –Best practices about how to address health equity, case studies of successful health equity related interventions etc. 10

Part 3- Online Health Equity Course 11

Part 4- Findings from Expert Review Need content that will help decision-makers and policy- makers decide what an inequity is and who decides what is unfair Customize resources to target audience and levels of decision making Important for users to connect with the material (e.g. Case studies, scenarios and exercises) Ensure content is interactive, participatory, and engaging Need to go further in explaining how once an inequity in health is identified, how do you use evidence-informed decision making to identify effective strategies 12

Part 5- Findings from End-User Pilot 13

Recommendations Based on Expert Review and End-User Pilot Tailor resources based on the information needs of each group (e.g. Policy-makers, decision-makers, researchers etc.) Develop resources for stakeholders with differing abilities: –Beginner (e.g. Those with no research background) –Advanced (e.g. Those familiar with content being developed) Ensure that learners are engaged with the material Engaging and interactive learning methods (e.g. Case studies, online chats, talks by people working in the field etc.) 14

Implications of Research Improved understanding of effective knowledge translations strategies in complex decision making environments Attempt to address barriers to the use of health equity related information and knowledge 15

Acknowledgements Karen Weir, MHSM Program Lead Canadian Population Health Initiative, CIHI Sara Allin, MSc, PhD Senior Researcher Canadian Population Health Initiative, CIHI 16

Questions? To access the course, Equity Action: Health Equity Tools for Health System Managers, register for free, online at Pour accéder a ce cours, L’équité en santé : outils pour les gestionnaires du système de santé, inscrivez-vous en linge gratuitement à 17