title: The development of ORACLe: a measure of an organisation's capacity to engage in evidence-informed health policy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence-informed policymaking is more likely if organisations have cultures that promote research use and invest in resources that facilitate staff engagement with research. Measures of organisations' research use culture and capacity are needed to assess current capacity, identify opportunities for improvement, and examine the impact of capacity-building interventions. The aim of the current study was to develop a comprehensive system to measure and score organisations' capacity to engage with and use research in policymaking, which we entitled ORACLe (Organisational Research Access, Culture, and Leadership).
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a multifaceted approach to develop ORACLe. Firstly, we reviewed the available literature to identify key domains of organisational tools and systems that may facilitate research use by staff. We interviewed senior health policymakers to verify the relevance and applicability of these domains. This information was used to generate an interview schedule that focused on seven key domains of organisational capacity. The interview was pilot-tested within four Australian policy agencies. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was then undertaken using an expert sample to establish the relative importance of these domains. This data was used to produce a scoring system for ORACLe.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ORACLe interview was developed, comprised of 23 questions addressing seven domains of organisational capacity and tools that support research use, including (1) documented processes for policymaking; (2) leadership training; (3) staff training; (4) research resources (e.g. database access); and systems to (5) generate new research, (6) undertake evaluations, and (7) strengthen relationships with researchers. From the DCE data, a conditional logit model was estimated to calculate total scores that took into account the relative importance of the seven domains. The model indicated that our expert sample placed the greatest importance on domains (2), (3) and (4).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We utilised qualitative and quantitative methods to develop a system to assess and score organisations' capacity to engage with and apply research to policy. Our measure assesses a broad range of capacity domains and identifies the relative importance of these capacities. ORACLe data can be used by organisations keen to increase their use of evidence to identify areas for further development.
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Level 13, Building 10, 235 Jones Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. steve.makkar@saxinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Steve R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Makkar
authors.affiliation: World Vision Australia, 1 Vision Drive, Burwood East, Melbourne, Victoria, 3151, Australia. tari.turner@worldvision.com.au.
authors.forename: Tari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Level 13, Building 10, 235 Jones Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. anna.williamson@saxinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Choice, University of South Australia, Level 13, 140 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2060, Australia. jordan.louviere@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Louviere
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Level 13, Building 10, 235 Jones Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. sally.redman@saxinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Redman
authors.affiliation: The Sax Institute, Level 13, Building 10, 235 Jones Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. abby.haynes@saxinstitute.org.au.|Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Edward Ford Building, Fisher Road, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia. abby.haynes@saxinstitute.org.au.
authors.forename: Abby
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 6, The Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia. sally.green@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 6, The Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia. sue.brennan@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brennan
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001315:Australia; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006291:Health Policy; D006298:Health Services Administration; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007857:Leadership; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011050:Policy Making