From evidence to influence:
reflections on life in academia
and policy
Dr Helen Gilburt, Fellow, Health Policy
The King’s Fund
The King’s Fund is an independent charity working to improve health
and health care in England. Our vision is that the best possible care
is available to all.
We help to shape policy through:
› Research and analysis
› Develop individuals, teams and organisations
› Promote understanding of the health and social care system
› Bring people to learn, share knowledge and debate
Our independence is of importance to us in building confidence in the
objectivity of our research and analysis and the impact we seek to
make.
First 18 months
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Mental health transformation
› Service transformation: Lessons from mental health
› Transforming mental health. A plan of action for London
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Supporting people to manage their health: an introduction to
patient activation
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People in control of their own health and care
›
Local Healthwatch: progress and promise
Meetings and discussion
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Weekly policy table meeting
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Project development meetings
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Meetings with colleagues at the Fund
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Meetings with other think tanks
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Meetings with policy makers
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Meetings with practitioners and people in the system
NB – distinct lack of meetings with academia!
Communication
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Blogs
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Twitter
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Media – providing briefings and reports
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Website content
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Speaking at events
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Networking
Networking
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Making links
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Mutual benefit / equal interest
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Being available
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Getting to know the people in the field and what their views are
and what they are working on
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Learning how to give and take in order to influence
Areas the academic in me
struggled with
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Having to know everything to arrive at an evidence-based
conclusion vs. knowing enough to make an informed opinion
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If it’s not an RCT it’s not valid. Pro’s and cons of research
methods.
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Evidence is but one element of policy influence
Soul searching questions about
academia
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Academic distain for policy
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All this good work you do and nobody knows about it!
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“Policy is not my business”
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“I haven’t got time for policy”
Q. What is the function of academic health research
and the responsibility of academic health researchers?
Get an overview of the system
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Government
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Statutory bodies
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NHS England
Public Health England
NICE
CQC
TDA, Monitor, HWE
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Commissioners
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Providers
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Royal Colleges
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Think tanks & voluntary sector
Understanding how policy is made
and works
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Ministers with political affiliations and own ideas/focus
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Limited time and multiple responsibilities
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Strategic direction of system and initiatives
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Policy makers – short deadlines, working to a brief
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Access to information
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Public role
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Applying evidence and policy
Build a network
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Build a policy profile
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Make a concerted effort to get to identify and get to know people
in policy relevant to you
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Build a non-academic database
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Be prepared to work collaboratively towards collective goals
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Keep regular but effective contact
Creating influence
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Understand the policy drivers and levers in your area
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Understand the different levels of influence
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Know your audience, tailor and diversify your outputs
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Be prepared to take your research findings to another level –
make recommendations
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Trade off between academic endeavour and influence