2015 annual report

Overview

Throughout 2015 the Alliance continued to build momentum and community. This year was the end of an administrative period (the second half of a two- year workplan and last year of a strategic plan) and the exercise allowed us to take stock of progress, learn from challenges and adjust plans as necessary.

One of the most important outcomes of this year’s work – and a key aspect of most of these engagements – has been the strengthening of relationships with decision-makers and their direct involvement in the research process. The Alliance has thus gained a better understanding of their needs and how best to engage them. We have learned that it is possible to engage decision-makers as leaders for implementation research studies, that there is a strong demand and willingness for them to collaborate as partners with researchers. This is an area of the Alliance’s strength, where efforts will continue to be focused.

Key to the Alliance’s success in 2015 has been the strengthening of its relationship with others through collaborations that it has led. Such collaborations include work on developing and testing new models for research, addressing issues related to ethical reviews of health policy and systems research as well as reporting standards for implementation research. Such successful collaborations have highlighted the value the Alliance can bring: the Alliance has demonstrated innovation and leadership that is recognized by others in the field. The leveraging of additional resources to maximize impact is clearly important for a small organization like the Alliance but equally is the recognition of its ideas and innovations by larger partners, which adds to its reputation and helps build influence.