{
  "abstract": "Background Local government can shape the social determinants of health underpinning intersectional health inequalities in inner-city areas but needs evidence on what works. Much research highlights barriers to knowledge transfer from academia to support decision and policymaking, and how policymakers use rational and irrational shortcuts to construct ’bounded rationalities’ to manage the uncertainty and ambiguity involved in policymaking. These factors make for complex and messy arenas in which to land impactful research evidence. This study examines whether and how a long-term prevention research partnership across two local authorities influenced local policy and decision-making.Methods Semi-structured interviews with senior local government officers (n=5) and one focus group were conducted, and programme documents analysed. Participants were from two local authorities, one in London, one in northern England. Data were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.Results Findings echoed known barriers - research timelines misaligned with live decision making, limited officer capacity for research oversight, and academic priorities diverging from local needs. However, sustained relationships between researchers and council officers were valued by officers, facilitating co-creation throughout the research cycle, ensuring that research was aligned to the councils’ strategic or operational priorities, and key outputs were available to local government officers to inform decisions at critical points in time. The study highlighted that in messy policy making environments, decision-making is embedded in a wider ecology of experiential knowledge, political calculation, and resource pressures - with academic research as just one input among many.Conclusion Local government needs not only better evidence but also more effective ways to bring it into play to support decision making. For academic research to have greater impact, researchers should rethink how they engage with local authorities. Building trusted partnerships, embedding knowledge mobilisers, and tailoring research to address local challenges are the proven levers for making evidence count.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Public Health Division, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Simon Twite"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P13-1 Understanding research evidence use in local government: a qualitative narrative review",
  "uid": "359bb723-89bf-5cb0-a232-7051fda63bfc"
}