Health systems and policy research evidence in health policy making in israel: What are researchers' practices in transferring knowledge to policy makers?

Background: Ensuring the use of research evidence in health system management and policy decisions is animportant challenge in this century. Knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) has emerged as a paradigm to addressthe challenges and start closing the 'know-do' gap. This area of work is gaining momentum in most developedcountries, yet, to date, no work has been performed in Israel within this area. The purpose of this study was toidentify which KTE activities health systems and policy researchers in Israel have undertaken.Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey of researchers who have conducted health systems and policyresearch in Israel was developed. The survey consisted of a demographics section, quantitative scales, andopen-ended questions. The survey was sent to all health systems and policy researchers in Israel (n = 125).Results: The study response rate (28%) was relatively low as compared to other studies in the same field (range of42% to 88%). Our survey found that more than a third of the health systems and policy researchers in Israelreported that they were frequently or always involved in the following KTE activities: interactions with targetaudience through the research process (i.e., during developing a research question or executing the research;35% to 42%) or through formal or informal meetings during conferences, workshops, or conversations (40%). Lessthan half of the health systems and policy researchers in Israel are engaged in bridging activities aimed to facilitatetarget audiences to use research.Conclusions: This is a fairly new area in Israel and therefore the level of engagement of researchers in KTE activitiesis not very high. The low response rates could be because KTE is a new field in Israel and minimal KTE initiativeshave been undertaken. It is preferable to have higher response rates, yet, after several initiatives, this was theoutcome. While the findings are relevant, they may not reflect the total population of health system and policyresearchers in Israel. Health system and policy researchers in Israel need to be introduced to the benefits andpotential advantages of KTE in an organized and systematic way.