Strategies and tensions in communicating research on sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS: a qualitative study of the experiences of researchers and communications staff
2011

Communicating Research on Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV, and AIDS

Sample size: 22 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Joanna Crichton, Sally Theobald

Primary Institution: African Population and Health Research Center

Hypothesis

How do researchers and communications staff engage policy actors in sexual and reproductive health research?

Conclusion

The adapted RAPID framework can help research actors resolve tensions in policy engagement.

Supporting Evidence

  • Research actors perceived a trend towards increasingly intensive and varied communication approaches.
  • Effective influencing strategies include making strategic alliances and coalitions.
  • Tensions include the need to identify and avoid unnecessary communication or unintended impacts.

Takeaway

Researchers and communication specialists work together to share important health research, but they face challenges in getting their messages heard by policymakers.

Methodology

The study involved 22 in-depth interviews with researchers and communications specialists from four research consortia.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the researchers' positionality and the varying contexts of policy engagement.

Limitations

The study may not capture all perspectives from different regions or types of research organizations.

Participant Demographics

Participants included researchers and communications staff from northern and southern institutions across nine countries.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1478-4505-9-S4

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