More than optimism, institutional reform is needed to improve evidence use in policy and practice

While optimism can inspire efforts to connect the spheres of science, policy, and practice, it does little to remove the real boundaries between them. Systematic investigation of “bright spots” – or success stories – would likely yield some interesting learning points but, as David Christian Rose suggests, it may be unwise to cherry-pick evidence of what works by only analysing success stories. What’s more, it seems unlikely that further study would throw up any truly novel solutions to how evidence is used in policy and practice. Instead, focus should shift to overcoming institutional barriers that are preventing progress, such as a lack of incentives and training.