Evidence, policy and practice: developing collaborative approaches in Scotland

While many of the drivers for evidence-based policy and practice are UK wide, there are some distinctive features of the policy and practice contexts in Scotland that have shaped the way in which evidence-based implementation is being forged. Within the field of health improvement policy and practice in Scotland, this paper focuses on what Nutley (2003) refers to as one of the prerequisites of evidence based policy and practice - the development of collaborative mechanisms for bringing closer together those working across research, policy and practice. The first part of the article looks at research-policy-practice collaborations in the development and evaluation of two public health interventions: needle exchanges and teacher-delivered sex education in secondary schools. The second part of the article considers the development of professional roles that are intended to facilitate cross-boundary linkage and exchange between research, policy and practice.