Challenges for research uptake for health policymaking and practice in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

Abstract

Abstract Background: An estimated 85% of research resources are wasted worldwide, while there is growing demand for context-based evidence-informed health policymaking. In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), research uptake for health policymaking and practice is low, while little is known about the barriers to the translation of health evidence to policy and local implementation. We conducted a scoping review to identify research uptake challenges for health policymaking and practice in LMICs. Methods: The scoping review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis-extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and the Arksey and O'Malley framework. Both published and unpublished evidence on research uptake were systematically searched from major databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL(EBSCO), Global Health (Ovid)) and direct Google Scholar. Literature exploring barriers to uptake of research evidence in health policy and practice in LMICs were included and their key findings were synthesized using thematic areas to address the review question. Results:A total of 4,291 literature were retrieved in the initial searches, of which 142 were included in the review as they met the eligibility criteria. The findings revealed low research uptake for policymaking and practice in LMICs. The challenges of research uptake were related to lack of understanding the local contexts, political priorities, poor stakeholder engagement and partnership, resource and capacity constraints, limited research infrastructure and institution support, low leadership commitment, lack of accountability and pathway, lack of communication and dissemination platforms. Conclusion: Multiple barriers exist in LMICs that hinder the translation of health research evidence into policy and practice. This calls for designing pragmatic strategies that facilitate an in-depth understanding of the local contexts, a conducive environment for researchers and policymakers to work closely with, and government ownership mitigating the barriers to low evidence uptake.