article · African Health Sciences
Effective health policy and quality healthcare administration increasingly rely on the integration of research evidence. In Nigeria, capacity constraints among policymakers remain a primary barrier preventing research uptake into maternal and child health policy. A cross-sectional survey evaluated forty maternal, newborn, and child health policymakers during a national stakeholders event using a self-assessment tool. The assessment measured individual and organisational capabilities to acquire, assess, adapt, and apply evidence. Findings revealed low mean ratings, ranging between 2.68 and 3.53 on a five-point scale, across essential areas. These included understanding how to initiate or conduct research, assessing the validity, authenticity, reliability, relevance, and applicability of findings, and institutional support for utilising research. The results highlight an urgent requirement for structured capacity development initiatives targeted at policymakers to strengthen evidence-informed decision-making.
When policymakers struggle to locate, interpret, or trust scientific findings, health policies may fail to reflect the most effective interventions. Identifying specific weaknesses in research uptake allows governments and international development partners to design targeted interventions. Improving these skills directly supports better maternal, newborn, and child healthcare strategies, potentially improving health outcomes across vulnerable populations.
The findings point to opportunities for educational providers, consultants, and technical assistance organisations to design and deliver targeted capacity-building and training programmes for health sector officials. These services would focus on evidence appraisal and research translation tools. However, the abstract describes an observational survey and does not indicate an immediate commercial product or direct application pathway beyond professional development interventions.
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BACKGROUND: Throughout the world, there is increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the value of research evidence in the development of effective health policy and in quality health care practice and administration. Among the major challenges associated with the lack of uptake of research evidence into policy and practice in Nigeria is the capacity constraints of policymakers to use research evidence in policy making. OBJECTIVE: To assess the capacity of maternal and child health policy makers to acquire, access, adapt and apply available research evidence. METHODS: This cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted at a national maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) stakeholders' engagement event. An evidence to policy self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess the capacity of forty MNCH policy makers to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for policy making. RESULTS: Low mean ratings were observed ranging from 2.68-3.53 on a scale of 5 for knowledge about initiating/conducting research and capacity to assess authenticity, validity, reliability, relevance and applicability of research evidence and for organizational capacity for promoting and using of research for policy making. CONCLUSION: There is need to institute policy makers' capacity development programmes to improve evidence-informed policymaking.
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DOI: 10.4314/ahs.v17i3.12
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