Translating from research to public health policy: Strategies to make an impact

Generating research on the development of public health laws or evaluating the impact of existing public health laws is a challenge; only to be followed by the greater challenge of using the research to make a policy impact. By thinking strategically and creating interdisciplinary teams including legal, advocacy and public health partners can result in well-crafted research questions with an audience anxiously awaiting the study findings. Similarly, such partners can help to think through communications approaches and potential opposition from special interests. Using a series of case studies of newly emerging research findings on laws related to drug overdoses, restrictions on young inexperienced drivers, firearms and mental health, lead specialty courts and sustained efforts in tobacco control, we analyze the research process in the context of opportunities for effective communication. We offer proven strategies on how to communicate research findings to policymakers and practitioners alike. While peer-reviewed publications are necessary for academic survival, effective communication for policy impact must go beyond the pages of scientific journals and be transformed into other forms of communications such as letters to editors, testimony at public hearings, earned media, communications via online social media, and integration of findings into coalition and public health agency educational materials and fact sheets. In addition, we discuss the potential barriers to effective communications, including opposing arguments and misinformation, and the potential impact of regulations such as Section 503 restrictions on lobbying.