A systematic review of barriers to and facilitators of the use of evidence by policymakers

Table 2 Barriers and Facilitators categorised into themes (n = number of studies)

Seen as barrier		Factor	Seen as facilitator
85	Contact and collaboration			98
	8	Collaboration	49
	42	Timing/opportunity	24
	8	Relationship with policymakers	39
	8	Relationship with researchers/info staff	37
	8	Contact with researchers/info staff	31
	9	Contact with policymakers	30
	2	Other	1
92	Organisation and resources			99
	63	Availability and access to research/improved dissemination	65
	25	Costs	11
	3	Managerial support (practical)	22
	11	Professional bodies	15
	11	Material resources available	12
	14	Staff or personnel resources	10
	3	Managerial will	5
	9	Staff turnover/continuity of employment	3
	9	Other	9
85	Research and researcher characteristics			95
	54	Clarity/relevance/reliability of research findings	46
	18	Format of research findings	26
	9	Importance of research findings	10
	25	Other	32
62	Policymaker characteristics			69
	26	Policymaker research skills	22
	24	Policymaker research awareness	10
	13	Political support (will)	21
	4	Political support (practical)	12
	12	Practitioner research skills	6
	3	Practitioner research awareness	2
	6	Other	11
28		Policy characteristics		33
	6	Guidelines or policy statement	9
	9	Importance of policy	11
	5	Legal or legislative support	3
	26	Other pressures on policy	5
	4	Other	4
10		Other		1
	9	Consumer-related barrier	0
	1	Other	1
105	All factors (total)			124

ISSN: 1472-6963