Table 1 Categorising Research Impact

Discursive changes

Change discourse

Opening new public spaces/discourses on representations of sexuality in Bangladesh (Rashid et al [11])

Challenging key academic or policy discourses, for example on health economics and on Children and HIV, and gender and masculinities (Crichton and Theobald [3])

Content changes

Change laws/policies

Change in law to exempt survivors of gender-based violence from paying medical costs (Tulloch et al [9])

Research to analyse the process of uptake of Cotrimoxazole preventive therapy in Zambia, Uganda and Malawi and draw out lessons on policy change (Hutchinson et al [5])

Procedural changes

Change how health-related government ministries or agencies analyse their data on service delivery

Gender disaggregated data and equity analysis of ART data now part of MoH processes (REACH Trust, Malawi) (Crichton and Theobald [3])

Behavioural changes

Raise awareness of and access to research and capacity to understand it.

Media engagement and media capacity building:

Raising awareness about health and rights through an entertaining and engaging drama – Makutano Junction (Oronje et al [6])

Support attitudinal change

The Pleasure Project’s global mapping of pleasure used research to promote sexy safe sex (Knerr & Philpott [12])

Build national capacity to carry out research and identify the policy implications

Research was undertaken on OVC within the Ministry of Health and links developed with other government departments (Gyapong et al [13])