Abstract

This report explores how knowledge translation (KT) and cultural contexts are conceptualized and utilized, with a focus on health policy-making theory and practice. KT takes place within cultural contexts that can powerfully frame what policy problems are and what type of research is accepted by policy-makers. This is illustrated with studies from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the use of face masks across cultures and of the influence of cultural contexts on KT and evidence-informed decision-making arising from the Black Lives Matter movement. Many Indigenous cultures conceptualize physical health in a holistic manner that encompasses both social and ecological aspects, which are often not considered in the biomedical understanding of health. Effective KT within local cultural contexts requires going beyond general categories (such as Indigenous culture) and assumptions about particular types of culture. Some KT models and frameworks include local context as a factor in translation, identifying community-, culture- and language-focused strategies to improve cultural competency for health-care interventions. Policy considerations are suggested that support the adoption of complex understandings of cultures in knowledge production, communication, translation and use.

Contents

• ABBREVIATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1. Background
  • 1.2. Methodology
• 2. RESULTS
  • 2.1. Cultural complexity and KT processes
  • 2.2. Cultural contexts of KT in public health
• 3. DISCUSSION
  • 3.1. Strengths and limitations of the review
  • 3.2. The influence of culture on KT
  • 3.3. Policy considerations
• 4. CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES
• ANNEX 1. SEARCH STRATEGY

Suggested citation:

Engebretsen E, Umachandran P, Ødemark J, Greenhalgh T. In what ways do cultural contexts influence the knowledge translation process for health decision-making and what are the implications for policy and practice? Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 76). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

The Health Evidence Network

The Health Evidence Network (HEN) is an information service for public health decision-makers in the WHO European Region, in action since 2003 and initiated and coordinated by the WHO Regional Office for Europe under the umbrella of the European Health Information Initiative (a multipartner network coordinating all health information activities in the WHO European Region).

HEN supports public health decision-makers to use the best available evidence in their own decisionmaking and aims to ensure links between evidence, health policies and improvements in public health. The HEN synthesis report series provides summaries of what is known about the policy issue, the gaps in the evidence and the areas of debate. Based on the synthesized evidence, HEN proposes policy options, not recommendations, for further consideration of policy-makers to formulate their own recommendations and policies within their national context.

Behavioural and Cultural Insights Unit

The Behavioural and Cultural Insights Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Europe explores the structural, contextual and individual factors that affect health behaviours. It uses these insights to strengthen health-related policies, services and communication to deliver better health and reduce inequity. Many of the Region’s most pressing health problems are not medical, but rather behavioural, social, cultural, political, psychological or economic in nature. Building a culture of health, in which everyone is supported to make healthy choices, depends on nuanced insights into these contexts as they are experienced by people and into the factors that affect human behaviours and decision-making. Using a rigorous, evidence-informed approach that builds on the health humanities and social sciences, the Unit works with health authorities to improve the way their services respond to their citizens’ needs for people-centred care.

ISSN: 2789-9217

ISBN: 978-92-890-5835-3 (PDF)

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Suggested citation. Engebretsen E, Umachandran P, Ødemark J, Greenhalgh T. In what ways do cultural contexts influence the knowledge translation process for health decision-making and what are the implications for policy and practice? Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 76). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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