Barriers to Knowledge Translation in Health Policy and Management: A Scoping Review

Knowledge translation in health policy and management is the process of utilizing evidence-based research in policy-making and managerial decision-making. This study aimed to identify the barriers to knowledge translation in health policy and management.

This study was conducted using the scoping review method at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Spring 2020. All published articles on the barriers to knowledge translation in health policy and management from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2019, in nine databases were searched. Finally, 58 documents were reviewed and analyzed using MAXQDA software.

Overall, 76 barriers to knowledge translation in health policy and management were identified and grouped into seven categories, including barriers related to the characteristics of the healthcare system, healthcare organization, health policy and management knowledge, the knowledge producer, the knowledge user, knowledge transfer technology, and the communication between the knowledge producer and the user. A lack of access to knowledge and databases, time and resource constraints, inadequate policymakers’ support, lack of motivation to exchange knowledge, insufficient education and training, lack of knowledge translation awareness, and lack of knowledge applicability were the most often reported barriers to knowledge translation in health policy and management.

The gap between theory and practice is high and there are many barriers to knowledge transfer in health policy and management. Therefore, policymakers and managers should take serious measures to make the optimal use of knowledge for enhancing healthcare organizations’ performance.