In health and social care the idea of using evidence to inform policy development and practice is now the norm. But there are still many challenges and potential pitfalls associated with using evidence.

They include:

  • deciding what evidence means, what is included, and how it ought to be assessed and weighted;
  • understanding what we mean by evidence-based and evidence-informed and what use we are making of research;
  • avoiding the pitfalls of paying lip service to using evidence, failing to think critically about it, or treating it as an occasional or tick-box exercise.

The best strategy is to develop an approach of sustained interaction with evidence across research and policy/practice.

For researcher DL Sackett, working in the world of medicine, evidence-based meant "the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values".

This does not mean using an assessment of the research evidence as the only information to guide action. Lack of clarity in the research evidence requires practitioners to draw on other evidence, notably clinical experience.

This way of working requires an ongoing, complex process of synthesising the best knowledge to guide work in a situation. This cannot be done on an occasional basis, hence the need for sustained interaction, requiring a culture of using evidence.

It requires committed leadership - by which is meant leadership that constantly values and enacts the use of evidence. Operational realities need to support and demand this way of working, including resources and policies and procedures that draw out the desired behaviour of using evidence.

The Care Services Improvement Partnership is strategically placed across policy and practice development to make powerful connections between the two worlds. It has also sought to develop a position, an ethos and ways of working which develop a sustained interaction across policy, practice and research.

The intention is to synthesise knowledge from all three worlds to produce a systematic approach to its work that makes best use of evidence. It also allows knowledge from, say, practice to inform future research.

The following examples focus on the mental health work of CSIP, led by the National Institute for Mental Health in England, and highlight some of the ways this sustained interaction across research, policy and practice has been operationalised.

For nearly 10 years in England, the national service framework for mental health has been the touchstone of work in mental health, and had a very clear commitment to being evidence-based. The National Institute for Mental Health in England has sought to maintain that commitment.

Early intervention in psychosis

Improving access to psychological therapies

National social inclusion programme

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