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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 47(5)

Development of a novel and more holistic approach for assessing impact in health and medical research: the Research Impact Assessment Framework

Robyn L. Ward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6877-8906 A * , Don Nutbeam B , Wilfred Mijnhardt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9066-0798 C , Philip Nelson D , Angela Todd B , Mark I. Rees A , Janine Richards A , Nadia N. Khan E , Isaac Ho E and Sean Chung E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B Sydney Health Partners, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

C Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

D Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.

E Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.

* Correspondence to: robyn.ward@sydney.edu.au

Australian Health Review 47(5) 589-595 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH23152
Submitted: 9 August 2023  Accepted: 25 August 2023   Published: 11 September 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Considered investment in health and medical research (HMR) is critical for fostering a healthcare system that is sustainable, effective, responsive, and innovative. While several tools exist to measure the impact of research, few assess the research environment that nurtures and supports impactful research and the strategic alignment of research with societal needs. This perspective article discusses the limitations of existing assessment tools and presents a novel Research Impact Assessment Framework designed to enable more strategic and targeted investment towards HMR, having the potential for significant public benefit.

Keywords: governance, health policy, health system, impact, investment decisions, performance and evaluation, research funding, translation, value.

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