Exploring the Integration of Systems and Social Sciences to Study Evidence Use among Child Welfare Policy-makers

Consistent with recent calls by the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academices of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to employ systems science to improve health care policy, opportunities exist for the application of systems sciences to inform models of research evidence use in child welfare policymaking. To illustrate this through a case study, we examine the use of research evidence as state policy-makers respond to national concerns regarding the safe and judicious use of psychotropic medications for children in foster care. We employ qualitative methods to specify informational inputs to inform the development of a systems science model that characterizes diffusion of research evidence. Our findings suggest that (1) of social networks alone, influence evidence use, (2) a competitive marketplace exists for use of different types and sources of evidence, (3) evidence is used by policymakers for multiple purposes, and finally (4) policymakers' value timely evidence responsive to discrete policy windows. Our results indicate opportunities for the extension of traditional diffusion models to accommodate the complexity of research evidence use in child welfare policymaking.