More than publications: Maximising societal benefit from health research November 2022
The topic of research impact, or more specifically in the context of this event, societal benefit from research, has had limited focus in Ireland to date. This event was very useful in facilitating the diverse audience to find a shared language and to collectively consider what changes would lead to improvements in realising impact from research.
Guided by the discussions and nuanced by input from our expert Steering Group, the Irish Health Research Forum offers a number of recommendations:
- Those designing research should plan a pathway to impact, from the
inception of a project to beyond its completion. - Researchers should co-create projects with PPI contributors and key
potential end users of the research. - To help the uptake of research outputs, research teams should tailor
communications about them for all relevant audiences. - To facilitate better tracking, measurement, realisation and description of research impact, the health system should introduce effective mechanisms for the collection and use of health and social care data.
- To ensure the vital contribution to research of charities and other societal
partners, funders and researchers should ensure that their inclusion costs are covered adequately. - Policy makers should develop mechanisms to articulate the evidence they need to inform policy and should explicitly attribute research used to
underpin policy. - All groups involved in the design and use of research should establish
communities of practice, focused onenabling a culture of research impact.
