·         First round: Policymakers will reflect on how the mentorship program impacted their work  (e.g. changes in the culture & attitude towards evidence-informed policymaking, new way of thinking, strengthened relationship with research institutions, new products, programs  to support evidence use)

o    The mentorship program aiming to improve evidence based policy making, started in 2018 and since than MoILHSA and CIF improved the structural linkages between institutions in terms of evidence generation, which became more demand driven and oriented on the policy needs, than it was before. For example policy dialogue conducted by CIF on pharma price policy regulation was very informative for policy makers as well as for all stakeholders involved in the process. On the other hand the Policy Fellowship Program implemented by CIF in the frame of the mentorship program improved the linkages between participants of the program from MoILHSA and researchers from CIF. The knowledge translation products developed and under development in the frame of this program targets the policy needs in Georgia, for example now group of fellows from MoILHSA and CIF team is working on digital solutions in the primary healthcare, another good example is the recent evidence brief on Effects of bundled payments method on healthcare spending, service utilization and quality of care in the inpatient settings, which is also almost finalized and will be very informative for our institution. To summarize the understanding of evidence-based policy decisions have been improved for the mid-level staff members of the MoILHSA .

·         Second round: Policymakers to respond to the following question: How can we re-imagine the relationships between research and policymaking institutions to strengthen and institutionalize evidence-informed policymaking for better health and social justice   (emphasis will be put on the role that the mentee institution can play in this process)

o    The good practice established in the frame of this mentorship program is essential for sufficient decision making process and can be potentially scaled up and advocacy efforts should be in place with participation of research institution – CIF and our MoILHSA as well, to ensure the sustainability of this positive practice.