Knowing is not enough: Organizational Capacity of Developing Countries' Health Professional Associations to Utilize Research

The need for effective interfaces to translate research into policy-making is one of the most important challenges in addressing population health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The capacity to acquire, manage and apply research findings in programs' decision-making is essential for all health systems actors, including health professional associations in their roles as civil society organizations. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand better how organizational capacity to utilize research influences the knowledge translation performance of LMICs health professional associations. The research used a mixed methods exploratory sequential design. Phase one was an interview-based case study of the Burkina Faso Public Health Association. Phase two consisted of a survey of all nineteen LMICs health professional associations in a CIDA-funded partnership program focussing on institutional capacity strengthening. Triangulation of data was carried out, applying the concept of organizational "absorptive capacity" to shape the foundations of a framework. The qualitative inquiry identified factors influencing the capacity to utilize research, such as the organizational motivation to utilize research, triggers that persuade an association to invest in this capacity, and the processes to exploit and present the research findings in a useful way. The quantitative inquiry revealed that the utilization of research findings is a priority for these associations. Key organizational elements that underlie associations' organizational capacities to utilize research were identified. For example, half have used evidence from scientific journals and over a third have developed arrangements with researchers. However, associations' capacities are jeopardized by scarcity of resources to ensure that research is accessed, adapted and applied, and to recruit staff for knowledge translation strategies. Finally, the potential relationships among identified determinants were integrated in an operational framework capturing the organizational capacity to utilize research (OCUR). This multi-method study was the first to map institutional capacity needs for research utilization of LMICs health professional associations. The framework provides a guide to investigate associations' organizational capacity to utilize research and can aid in tailoring capacity-building strategies to strengthen associations' knowledge translation potential