Articles

Handling incidental findings in neuroimaging research in Japan: current state of research facilities and attitudes of investigators and the general population

To establish appropriate measures that deal with incidental findings (IFs), the neuroscience community needs to address various ethical issues. The current state of research facilities regarding IFs and invest...

Authors: Misao Fujita, Yoshinori Hayashi, Shimon Tashiro, Kyoko Takashima, Eisuke Nakazawa and Akira Akabayashi

Four centuries on from Bacon: progress in building health research systems to improve health systems?

In 1627, Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis described a utopian society in which an embryonic research system contributed to meeting the needs of the society. In this editorial, we use some of the aspirations described...

Authors: Stephen R Hanney and Miguel A González-Block

Health policy – why research it and how: health political science

The establishment of policy is key to the implementation of actions for health. We review the nature of policy and the definition and directions of health policy. In doing so, we explicitly cast a health polit...

Authors: Evelyne de Leeuw, Carole Clavier and Eric Breton

Features of successful bids for funding of applied health research: a cohort study

The literature suggests that research funding decisions may be influenced by criteria such as gender or institution of the principal investigator (PI). The aim of this study was to investigate the association ...

Authors: Sheila Turner, Peter Davidson, Louise Stanton and Victoria Cawdeary

Developing recommendations to improve the quality of diabetes care in Ireland: a policy analysis

In 2006, the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland established an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) for Diabetes, to act as its main source of operational policy and strategic advice for this chronic condition. ...

Authors: Sheena M Mc Hugh, Ivan J Perry, Colin Bradley and Ruairí Brugha

The making of nursing practice Law in Lebanon: a policy analysis case study

Evidence-informed decisions can strengthen health systems, improve health, and reduce health inequities. Despite the Beijing, Montreux, and Bamako calls for action, literature shows that research evidence is u...

Authors: Fadi El-Jardali, Rawan Hammoud, Lina Younan, Helen Samaha Nuwayhid, Nadine Abdallah, Mohammad Alameddine, Lama Bou-Karroum and Lana Salman

The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking?

This paper explores the question of what systems thinking adds to the field of global health. Observing that elements of systems thinking are already common in public health research, the article discusses whi...

Authors: David H Peters

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health

Authors: Taghreed Adam

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: understanding the growing complexity governing immunization services in Kerala, India

Governing immunization services in a way that achieves and maintains desired population coverage levels is complex as it involves interactions of multiple actors and contexts. In one of the Indian states, Kera...

Authors: Joe Varghese, V Raman Kutty, Ligia Paina and Taghreed Adam

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: analysing the contextual and social network factors influencing the use of sustainability indicators in a health system – a comparative study in Nepal and Somaliland

Health systems strengthening is becoming a key component of development agendas for low-income countries worldwide. Systems thinking emphasizes the role of diverse stakeholders in designing solutions to system...

Authors: Karl Blanchet, Jennifer Palmer, Raju Palanchowke, Dorothy Boggs, Ali Jama and Susan Girois

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: sustainability evaluation as learning and sense-making in a complex urban health system in Northern Bangladesh

Starting in 1999, Concern Worldwide Inc. (Concern) worked with two Bangladeshi municipal health departments to support delivery of maternal and child health preventive services. A mid-term evaluation identifie...

Authors: Eric G Sarriot, Michelle Kouletio, Shamim Jahan Dr, Izaz Rasul and AKM Musha

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: managing rural China health system development in complex and dynamic contexts

This paper explores the evolution of schemes for rural finance in China as a case study of the long and complex process of health system development. It argues that the evolution of these schemes has been the ...

Authors: Xiulan Zhang, Gerald Bloom, Xiaoxin Xu, Lin Chen, Xiaoyun Liang and Sara J Wolcott

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: advice seeking behavior among primary health care physicians in Pakistan

Using measles and tuberculosis as case examples, with a systems thinking approach, this study examines the human advice-seeking behavior of primary health care (PHC) physicians in a rural district of Pakistan....

Authors: Asmat U Malik, Cameron D Willis, Saima Hamid, Anar Ulikpan and Peter S Hill

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: a realist evaluation of a capacity building programme for district managers in Tumkur, India

Health systems interventions, such as capacity-building of health workers, are implemented across districts in order to improve performance of healthcare organisations. However, such interventions often work i...

Authors: Nuggehalli Srinivas Prashanth, Bruno Marchal, Narayanan Devadasan, Guy Kegels and Bart Criel

The accountability for reasonableness approach to guide priority setting in health systems within limited resources – findings from action research at district level in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia

Priority-setting decisions are based on an important, but not sufficient set of values and thus lead to disagreement on priorities. Accountability for Reasonableness (AFR) is an ethics-based approach to a legi...

Authors: Jens Byskov, Bruno Marchal, Stephen Maluka, Joseph M Zulu, Salome A Bukachi, Anna-Karin Hurtig, Astrid Blystad, Peter Kamuzora, Charles Michelo, Lillian N Nyandieka, Benedict Ndawi, Paul Bloch and Øystein E Olsen

Systematic reviews addressing identified health policy priorities in Eastern Mediterranean countries: a situational analysis

Systematic reviews can offer policymakers and stakeholders concise, transparent, and relevant evidence pertaining to pressing policy priorities to help inform the decision-making process. The production and th...

Authors: Fadi El-Jardali, Elie A Akl, Lama Bou Karroum, Ola Kdouh, Chaza Akik, Racha Fadlallah and Rawan Hammoud

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: exploring dual practice and its management in Kampala, Uganda

Many full-time Ugandan government health providers take on additional jobs – a phenomenon called dual practice. We describe the complex patterns that characterize the evolution of dual practice in Uganda, and ...

Authors: Ligia Paina, Sara Bennett, Freddie Ssengooba and David H Peters

National health policy-makers’ views on the clarity and utility of Countdown to 2015 country profiles and reports: findings from two exploratory qualitative studies

The use of sets of indicators to assess progress has become commonplace in the global health arena. Exploratory research has suggested that indicators used for global monitoring purposes can play a role in nat...

Authors: Benjamin M Hunter, Jennifer H Requejo, Ian Pope, Bernadette Daelmans and Susan F Murray

Goal setting and knowledge generation through health policy and systems research in low- and middle-income countries

The importance of health policy and systems research (HPSR) and its role in aiding health system reforms has been increasingly recognized in recent years within the World Health Organization (WHO). An assessme...

Authors: Jiayin Xue, Bhavini Murthy, Nhan T Tran and Abdul Ghaffar

Research for better health: the Panamanian priority-setting experience and the need for a new process

Panama is, economically, the fastest growing country in Central America and is making efforts to improve management mechanisms for research and innovation. However, due to contextual factors, the Panamanian He...

Authors: Luz Isabel Romero and Cristiane Quental

Health systems research in the time of health system reform in India: a review

Research on health systems is an important contributor to improving health system performance. Importantly, research on program and policy implementation can also create a culture of public accountability. In ...

Authors: Krishna D Rao, Radhika Arora and Abdul Ghaffar

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: understanding the dynamics of neonatal mortality in Uganda

Of the three million newborns that die each year, Uganda ranks fifth highest in neonatal mortality rates, with 43,000 neonatal deaths each year. Despite child survival and safe motherhood programmes towards re...

Authors: Agnes Semwanga Rwashana, Sarah Nakubulwa, Margaret Nakakeeto-Kijjambu and Taghreed Adam

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: provider payment and service supply behaviour and incentives in the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme – a systems approach

Assuring equitable universal access to essential health services without exposure to undue financial hardship requires adequate resource mobilization, efficient use of resources, and attention to quality and r...

Authors: Irene A Agyepong, Geneieve C Aryeetey, Justice Nonvignon, Francis Asenso-Boadi, Helen Dzikunu, Edward Antwi, Daniel Ankrah, Charles Adjei-Acquah, Reuben Esena, Moses Aikins and Daniel K Arhinful

New directions in evidence-based policy research: a critical analysis of the literature

Despite 40 years of research into evidence-based policy (EBP) and a continued drive from both policymakers and researchers to increase research uptake in policy, barriers to the use of evidence are persistentl...

Authors: Kathryn Oliver, Theo Lorenc and Simon Innvær

Quantity and quality of obesity-related research in Arab countries: assessment and comparative analysis

Obesity is a serious worldwide medical condition, considered by some researchers as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21^st century. The main objective of this study was to assess the quantity ...

Authors: Waleed M Sweileh, Sa’ed H Zyoud, Samah W Al-Jabi and Ansam F Sawalha

Putting newborn hearing screening on the political agenda in Belgium: local initiatives toward a community programme – a qualitative study

The Kingdon model, based on the convergence of three streams (problem, policy, and politics) and the opening of a policy window, analyses the process by which a health issue is placed on the political agenda. ...

Authors: Bénédicte Vos, Raphaël Lagasse and Alain Levêque

Stakeholders’ perspectives on access-to-medicines policy and research priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean: face-to-face and web-based interviews

This study aims to rank policy concerns and policy-related research issues in order to identify policy and research gaps on access to medicines (ATM) in low- and middle-income countries in Latin America and th...

Authors: Thiago Botelho Azeredo, Vera Lucia Luiza, Maria Auxiliadora Oliveira, Isabel Cristina Martins Emmerick and Maryam Bigdeli

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: South African examples of a leadership of sensemaking for primary health care

New forms of leadership are required to bring about the fundamental health system changes demanded by primary health care (PHC). Using theory about complex adaptive systems and policy implementation, this pape...

Authors: Lucy Gilson, Soraya Elloker, Patti Olckers and Uta Lehmann

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: realist evaluation of the Leadership Development Programme for district manager decision-making in Ghana

Although there is widespread agreement that strong district manager decision-making improves health systems, understanding about how the design and implementation of capacity-strengthening interventions work i...

Authors: Aku Kwamie, Han van Dijk and Irene Akua Agyepong

Advancing the application of systems thinking in health: why cure crowds out prevention

This paper presents a system dynamics computer simulation model to illustrate unintended consequences of apparently rational allocations to curative and preventive services.

Authors: David Bishai, Ligia Paina, Qingfeng Li, David H Peters and Adnan A Hyder

Public funding and private investment for R&D: a survey in China’s pharmaceutical industry

In recent years, China has experienced tremendous growth in its pharmaceutical industry. Both the Chinese government and private investors are motivated to invest into pharmaceutical research and development (...

Authors: Lan Qiu, Zi-Ya Chen, Deng-Yu Lu, Hao Hu and Yi-Tao Wang

Scientometric trends and knowledge maps of global health systems research

In the last few decades, health systems research (HSR) has garnered much attention with a rapid increase in the related literature. This study aims to review and evaluate the global progress in HSR and assess ...

Authors: Qiang Yao, Kai Chen, Lan Yao, Peng-hui Lyu, Tian-an Yang, Fei Luo, Shan-quan Chen, Lu-yang He and Zhi-yong Liu

Institutional capacity for health systems research in East and Central African Schools of Public Health: strengthening human and financial resources

Despite its importance in providing evidence for health-related policy and decision-making, an insufficient amount of health systems research (HSR) is conducted in low-income countries (LICs). Schools of publi...

Authors: Daudi Simba, Aggrey Mukose and William Bazeyo

Institutional capacity for health systems research in East and Central Africa schools of public health: enhancing capacity to design and implement teaching programs

The role of health systems research (HSR) in informing and guiding national programs and policies has been increasingly recognized. Yet, many universities in sub-Saharan African countries have relatively limit...

Authors: Mabel N Nangami, Lawrence Rugema, Bosena Tebeje and Aggrey Mukose

Institutional capacity for health systems research in East and Central African schools of public health: experiences with a capacity assessment tool

Despite significant investments in health systems research (HSR) capacity development, there is a dearth of information regarding how to assess HSR capacity. An alliance of schools of public health (SPHs) in E...

Authors: Nasreen Jessani, Daniela Lewy, Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho and Sara Bennett

Institutional capacity for health systems research in East and Central African schools of public health: knowledge translation and effective communication

Local health systems research (HSR) provides policymakers and practitioners with contextual, evidence-based solutions to health problems. However, producers and users of HSR rarely understand the complexities ...

Authors: Richard Ayah, Nasreen Jessani and Eric M Mafuta

Evaluation of partnerships in a transnational family violence prevention network using an integrated knowledge translation and exchange model: a mixed methods study

Family violence is a significant and complex public health problem that demands collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers for systemic, sustainable solutions. An integrated knowledge t...

Authors: Anita Kothari, Shannon L Sibbald and C Nadine Wathen

Road map to scaling-up: translating operations research study’s results into actions for expanding medical abortion services in rural health facilities in Nepal

Identifying unsafe abortion among the major causes of maternal deaths and respecting the rights to health of women, in 2002, the Nepali parliament liberalized abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy on request. H...

Authors: Mahesh Puri, Shophika Regmi, Anand Tamang and Prabhakar Shrestha

People-centred science: strengthening the practice of health policy and systems research

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a transdisciplinary field of global importance, with its own emerging standards for creating, evaluating, and utilizing knowledge, and distinguished by a particular...

Authors: Kabir Sheikh, Asha George and Lucy Gilson

Increasing the scale and adoption of population health interventions: experiences and perspectives of policy makers, practitioners, and researchers

Decisions to scale up population health interventions from small projects to wider state or national implementation is fundamental to maximising population-wide health improvements. The objectives of this stud...

Authors: Andrew J Milat, Lesley King, Robyn Newson, Luke Wolfenden, Chris Rissel, Adrian Bauman and Sally Redman

Indicators for tracking programmes to strengthen health research capacity in lower- and middle-income countries: a qualitative synthesis

The monitoring and evaluation of health research capacity strengthening (health RCS) commonly involves documenting activities and outputs using indicators or metrics. We sought to catalogue the types of indica...

Authors: Donald C Cole, Alan Boyd, Garry Aslanyan and Imelda Bates

Does the design and implementation of proven innovations for delivering basic primary health care services in rural communities fit the urban setting: the case of Ghana’s Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS)

Rapid urban population growth is of global concern as it is accompanied with several new health challenges. The urban poor who reside in informal settlements are more vulnerable to these health challenges. Lac...

Authors: Philip Baba Adongo, James F Phillips, Moses Aikins, Doris Afua Arhin, Margaret Schmitt, Adanna U Nwameme, Philip Teg-Nefaah Tabong and Fred N Binka

Varying ethics rules in clinical research and routine patient care – research ethics committee chairpersons’ views in Finland

To present empirical data on how the variation in regulating clinical research and patient care was perceived in Finland between 2009 and 2012.

Authors: Elina Hemminki, Jorma I Virtanen and Piret Veerus

Evaluation of the international forum on evidence informed health policymaking: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 27 to 31 August 2012

Meetings and conferences are often used as a tool to disseminate information, network with colleagues, and/or set direction for a field of study, but there is little evidence to support whether such events ach...

Authors: Justin Neves, John N Lavis, Ulysses Panisset and Markus Hultstrand Klint

National research for health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: moving towards the right direction?

National Research for Health Systems (NRfHS) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have shown growth and consolidation in the last few years. A structured, organized system will facilitate the development a...

Authors: Francisco Becerra-Posada, Miryam Minayo, Cristiane Quental and Sylvia de Haan

Developing a checklist for research proposals to help describe health service interventions in UK research programmes: a mixed methods study

One of the most common reasons for rejecting research proposals in the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme is the failure to adequately specify...

Authors: Hannah Dorling, Donna White, Sheila Turner, Kevin Campbell and Tara Lamont

A practical and systematic approach to organisational capacity strengthening for research in the health sector in Africa

Despite increasing investment in health research capacity strengthening efforts in low and middle income countries, published evidence to guide the systematic design and monitoring of such interventions is ver...

Authors: Imelda Bates, Alan Boyd, Helen Smith and Donald C Cole

An evidence-based framework to measure quality of allied health care

There is no standard way of describing the complexities of allied health (AH) care, or its quality. AH is an umbrella term which excludes medicine and nursing, and variably includes disciplines which provide t...

Authors: Karen Grimmer, Lucylynn Lizarondo, Saravana Kumar, Erica Bell, Michael Buist and Philip Weinstein

Capacity development in health systems and policy research: a survey of the Canadian context

Over the past decade, substantial global investment has been made to support health systems and policy research (HSPR), with considerable resources allocated to training. In Canada, signs point to a larger and...

Authors: Agnes Grudniewicz, Lindsay Hedden, Seija Kromm, Ruth Lavergne, Matthew Menear and Saskia Sivananthan

Analyzing the contributions of a government-commissioned research project: a case study

It often remains unclear to investigators how their research contributes to the work of the commissioner. We initiated the ‘Risk Model’ case study to gain insight into how a Dutch National Institute for Public...

Authors: Ingrid Hegger, Susan WJ Janssen, Jolanda FEM Keijsers, Albertine J Schuit and Hans AM van Oers