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Shifting toward healthy and sustainable diets: How to optimise evidence use for policy and practice

Appendix B: Communication and Dissemination Mechanisms table

This is a table of popular evidence communication and dissemination mechanisms, along with their challenges, benefits and target audiences.

Diweddarwyd ddiwethaf: 16 November 2022
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Diweddarwyd ddiwethaf: 16 November 2022
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Rows are marked to signify effective, non-effective, partially-effective or undetermined (based on available literature).  

Table 8: Mechanisms for Evidence Communication and Dissemination

Mechanism Description Challenges Benefits Target audience Effectiveness
Briefs (non-effective) “A concise standalone document that prioritises a specific policy issue and presents the evidence in a non-technical and jargon-free language; in general, the purpose is to distil or synthesise evidence with the intention of influencing thinking and actions of policy actors”  Clarity and maintaining concise messaging; 
Bias; Comprehension and unpredictable knowledge base of audience		 Relevant and salient (often commissioned); Easy comprehension;
Direct engagement on specific topic		 Policymakers, third-sector practitioners, think tanks, corporate executives Largely ineffective for addressing institutional/ structural barriers
Blogs and social media (partially effective) Quick summaries and highlights of key findings from scientific research, written colloquially Clarity and maintaining concise messaging;
Credibility and bias;
Relevance and salience		 Open-access;
Easy comprehension;
Convenient		 Policymakers, decision-makers, practitioners, public Effective for reaching a wide audience and building awareness; Unclear/mixed for influence on policy/ practice 
Conferences and Seminars (non-effective) Formal oral and (sometimes) visual presentations (in person and virtual) of evidence to a group Engagement;
Clarity and maintaining concise messaging; 
Comprehension and unpredictable knowledge base of audience		 Common venue;
Often funded;
Recognition		 Policymakers, practitioners, public Ineffective for influencing policy and practice
Data visualisation (effective) Using design principles to communicate complex information (for example, graphs, charts, icons, etc.) Clarity;
Balancing complexity while being concise;
Bias		 Easy comprehension;
Engaging;
Accessible		 Policymakers, practitioners Highly effective when done well
Toolkits (partially effective) Practical guides/ handbooks on possible ways to adopt and implement evidence Clarity; Coverage;
Relevance and usefulness		 Easy comprehension; Practical to adopt Policymakers, practitioners Moderately effective when tailored to audience needs

Source: Authors informed by Balian et al. (2016); Breckon & Dodson (2016)

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