Health services research can be an important source of policy-relevant information. The findings of such studies, however, are often disseminated in a manner that is not accessible to public officials, health professionals, or private sector managers: studies are designed without sensitivity to the needs of policy makers; results are published in professional or technical journals with limited circulation and readership; and publication schedules are out of synch with the timing of policy decisions. The six schools of health sciences at the University of Washington - dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work - are sponsoring the second annual Northwest Health Policy Research Conference to address these barriers by presenting research that is directly relevant to policy issues of the day in a language and format that are sensitive to the local policy community. The purposes of the conference are to inform health policy makers about the findings of relevant health and health care research carried out at institutions in the Northwest -- including Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon; improve the applicability of health care research to the resolution of important health policy issues; explore creative strategies through which research findings can be more effectively disseminated and used by the health policy community; and provide a forum for the research and policy communities to exchange views, discuss problems, and develop solutions regarding ongoing policy- relevant research. The target audience will consist of policy makers, representatives of public and private sector health system organizations and health-related foundations, health services professionals, and researchers across the six states. The one-day conference will offer sessions designed both to stimulate discussion about research-policy communications and to present information about specific studies. Research presentations will include the findings of completed studies as well as works-in-progress. Two plenary sessions will focus on 1) a pragmatic exploration of methods for translating research findings into a language and format that the policy community can use, and 2) an examination of the practice of leveraging research funding and its effects on the course of research and the use of research findings. Morning and afternoon concurrent sessions will be organized around the findings of specific research studies, through both oral presentations and a poster session. The design of each session will encourage interaction among presenters and other conference participants. The expected outcome of these interactions will be a better mutual understanding of the needs and priorities of each community and specific strategies for more effective use of research findings in health policy development. The conference will generate 1) a monograph summarizing the conference's major findings; 2) a policy research World Wide Web page to disseminate findings; and 3) oral and written presentations.
