Research into Action

At the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s recent Sharing Knowledge to Build a Culture of Health conference, Policies for Action grantees gathered for an exclusive training on sharing and promoting research, hosted by communications experts at the Urban Institute. That day, we were also joined by a group of seasoned policymakers and staffers for a conversation about elevating evidence to inform policy debates. Here’s what we learned.

Kacie Dragan of our NYU Wagner School Research Hub writes about collaborating with local criminal justice and public health agencies to better understand the health needs of justice-involved New Yorkers.

The recent P4A conference at NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service highlighted the power of partnerships with policymakers and practitioners to make research relevant and actionable.

Sherry Glied writes on the importance of researchers to anticipate the needs of policymakers when designing their research studies to account for the "unpredictable and sometimes messy world of politics."

To advance a Culture of Health in our country, we must engage all sectors to work collaboratively. At the core of this effort should be a commitment to rigorous, engaged research that reflects people’s true conditions and realities, generates quick feedback on what is working and what is not, and feeds into policy and practice to drive continuous real-time improvements. 

Starting this month, nine new P4A research teams will embark on projects to illuminate how policies and laws (at the local, state, and national levels, and in the private sector) can help improve population health, well-being, and equity. With topics including paid family leave laws, substance use interventions, and vaccine exemptions, our newly funded research projects represent truly innovative thinking on some of the most urgent issues of our time.

By law, private foundations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) are prohibited from lobbying or financially supporting any lobbying efforts of its staff, grantees, or other partners. But as researchers working on high-profile policy issues, it is not always clear if our activities could be considered lobbying.

Multivariate analysis. Face validity. Sampling bias. For researchers, these are everyday terms. For policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders, they might as well be ancient Sumerian.