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      An approach to measuring and encouraging research translation and research impact

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          Abstract

          Background

          Research translation, particularly in the biomedical area, is often discussed but there are few methods that are routinely used to measure it or its impact. Of the impact measurement methods that are used, most aim to provide accountability – to measure and explain what was generated as a consequence of funding research. This case study reports on the development of a novel, conceptual framework that goes beyond measurement. The Framework To Assess the Impact from Translational health research, or FAIT, is a platform designed to prospectively measure and encourage research translation and research impact. A key assumption underpinning FAIT is that research translation is a prerequisite for research impact.

          Methods

          The research impact literature was mined to understand the range of existing frameworks and techniques employed to measure and encourage research translation and research impact. This review provided insights for the development of a FAIT prototype. A Steering Committee oversaw the project and provided the feedback that was used to refine FAIT.

          Results

          The outcome of the case study was the conceptual framework, FAIT, which is based on a modified program logic model and a hybrid of three proven methodologies for measuring research impact, namely a modified Payback method, social return on investment, and case studies or narratives of the process by which research translates and generates impact.

          Conclusion

          As funders increasingly seek to understand the return on their research investments, the routine measurement of research translation and research impact is likely to become mandatory rather than optional. Measurement of research impact on its own is insufficient. There should also be a mechanism attached to measurement that encourages research translation and impact – FAIT was designed for this task.

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          Most cited references34

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          The meaning of translational research and why it matters.

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            The utilisation of health research in policy-making: concepts, examples and methods of assessment

            The importance of health research utilisation in policy-making, and of understanding the mechanisms involved, is increasingly recognised. Recent reports calling for more resources to improve health in developing countries, and global pressures for accountability, draw greater attention to research-informed policy-making. Key utilisation issues have been described for at least twenty years, but the growing focus on health research systems creates additional dimensions. The utilisation of health research in policy-making should contribute to policies that may eventually lead to desired outcomes, including health gains. In this article, exploration of these issues is combined with a review of various forms of policy-making. When this is linked to analysis of different types of health research, it assists in building a comprehensive account of the diverse meanings of research utilisation. Previous studies report methods and conceptual frameworks that have been applied, if with varying degrees of success, to record utilisation in policy-making. These studies reveal various examples of research impact within a general picture of underutilisation. Factors potentially enhancing utilisation can be identified by exploration of: priority setting; activities of the health research system at the interface between research and policy-making; and the role of the recipients, or 'receptors', of health research. An interfaces and receptors model provides a framework for analysis. Recommendations about possible methods for assessing health research utilisation follow identification of the purposes of such assessments. Our conclusion is that research utilisation can be better understood, and enhanced, by developing assessment methods informed by conceptual analysis and review of previous studies.
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              Why Measure Performance? Different Purposes Require Different Measures

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                61 2 4042 0494 , andrew.searles@hmri.org.au , http://www.hmri.org.au
                Journal
                Health Res Policy Syst
                Health Res Policy Syst
                Health Research Policy and Systems
                BioMed Central (London )
                1478-4505
                9 August 2016
                9 August 2016
                2016
                : 14
                : 60
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Lot 1, Kookaburra Circuit, New Lambton Heights, Newcastle, NSW 2305 Australia
                [2 ]School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia
                [3 ]Department of Medicine, John Hunter Hospital, Hunter New England Local Health District, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305 Australia
                [4 ]Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027 Australia
                [5 ]The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia
                [6 ]Experimental & Translational Respiratory Medicine, Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Diseases, Hunter Medical Research Institute & University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW Australia
                [7 ]Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, John Hunter Children’s Hospital, Newcastle, NSW Australia
                [8 ]Central Queensland University, Brisbane, 4000 Australia
                [9 ]School of Biomedical Science and Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia
                Article
                131
                10.1186/s12961-016-0131-2
                4979128
                27507300
                ef7de5ac-c21f-487c-8b51-6e02594bca8d
                © The Author(s). 2016

                Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 12 October 2015
                : 7 July 2016
                Categories
                Research
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2016

                Health & Social care
                research impact,research translation,outcome research,outcome measurement,evaluation,performance monitoring and feedback

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