Work Package 1

WP1 Objectives:

1. To explore and analyse the ways evidence is being used in formulating the local/regional and national policies to enhance physical activity;
2. To identify the needs of the policy-makers for the use of the evidence (facilitators and barriers) and how these needs are met by the research community;
3. To evaluate ways of delivering/communicating the evidence to the policy-makers;
4. To develop both a framework and indicators for the evidence-informed policy development.

WP1 Description of work:

1. Each partner identified a national and a regional/local physical activity policy. By literature and documentation analysis, followed by interviews, with those who developed the policy, partners identified what kind of evidence and how it was used to develop the policy. Both national and from implementation perspective relevant regional/local policy-making levels were studied;
2. The usability of the existing infrastructures for knowledge exchange (such as centers of expertise, evidence centers, bodies or person functioning as brokers, and potential web-based provision of research evidence) were evaluated by the relevant stakeholders;
3. Based on the findings both a preliminary framework and indicators for evidence-informed policy development (REPOPA framework & indicators) were created to be further developed in the course of the project.

Data for the research was collected from the existing literature and documents as well as interviews among the stakeholders and policy-makers. Documents and interviews were analyzed by content analysis; The information gathered is being used as the basis of the other WPs.

Deliverable: D1.1. Report: Role of evidence in policy making.