Competency profiles for Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIPM): a rapid scoping review

Abstract Background Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIPM) require a set of individual and organizational capabilities, articulated with background factors and needs. The identification of essential Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes for EIPM can support the formulation of competency profiles and their application in different contexts. Purpose To identify elements of competency (Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes) for EIPM, according to different professional profiles. Methods Rapid scoping review. A structured search was led, and later updated in two comprehensive repositories (BVSalud and PubMed). Review studies with different designs, published from 2010 onwards, without language restriction were included. Assessment of the methodological quality of the studies was not performed. A meta-aggregative narrative synthesis consolidated the findings. Results Ten reviews were included. Eight elements were categorized as Knowledge, 19 as Skills and 10 as Attitudes were identified, totaling 37 elements of competency. These elements were aggregated into four competency profiles (Researcher, Health Professional, Decision-maker and Citizen). The competency profiles included different sets of EIPM-related Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. Strengths and limitations This study is innovative because it aggregates different profiles of competency and uses a practical perspective, favoring the application of its results in different contexts, to support EIPM. Methodological limitations are related to the shortcuts adopted in this review, especially as it does not include complementary searches of the grey literature and does not carry out, in duplicate, the stages of study selection and data extraction. Final considerations: conclusions and implications of the findings EIPMs require the development of individual and organizational capacities. This rapid scoping review contributes to the discussion on the institutionalization of EIPM in health systems. The competency profiles presented here can support discussions about the availability and need for capacity development in different contexts.