Knowledge-to-Action pathway on aging in the Arab world: The critical role of governance

Knowledge translation platforms are gaining global support as conduits for evidence-based policymaking and service provision. Through placing the Knowledge-to-Action process in discursive and non-hierarchal structures of priority-setting, these platforms are inclusive to policymakers, researchers, civil society groups and older persons themselves. This study takes aging as a case study to elucidate the process of knowledge translation in the Arab region, which is currently undergoing monumental change.  By triangulating data from two surveys and an extensive desk review, we examine whether aging knowledge produced at the academic level most strongly correlates with social and health policies and programs through knowledge translation platforms or through governmental institutional arrangements. Correlations were assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation and a series of Bootstrap multiple linear regression models. Findings showed significant associations between Knowledge Creation (KC), Institutional Arrangements (IA) and Knowledge Translation (KT), with IA showing the highest correlation with both SP and HP (rS = 0.84, p-value < 0.001; rS = 0.79, p-value < 0.001, respectively). When adjusted for KT, only IA maintained its significance with the outcomes. In effect, although the proposed KT framework in the literature places the KT platform as the most influential construct, this study elucidates the critical role of governance in advancing evidence-based policymaking and service provision on the ground. This paper allows a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the knowledge translation process in aging research, however, country-specific research is required to further understand how KC and KT are conceptualized and exercised as well as obstacles and facilitators for policy development.