science

Health policy and systems research

Health policy and systems research is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Health policy and systems research rather than just read about it. In short: Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a field of inquiry that studies "how societies organize themselves in achieving collective health goals, and how different actors interact in the policy and implementation processes to contribute to policy outcomes". HPSR is interdisciplinary and brings together expertise in biomedical and social sciences such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, publ…

Key takeaways

Health policy and systems research belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Health policy and systems research to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Health policy and systems research from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a field of inquiry that studies "how societies organize themselves in achieving collective health goals, and how different actors interact in the policy and implementation processes to contribute to policy outcomes". HPSR is interdisciplinary and brings together expertise in biomedical and social sciences such as economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, public health and epidemiology.

History and development The Commission on Health Research for Development and the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research (1996) both highlighted the urgent need for focusing research methods, funding and practice towards addressing health inequities and embracing inter-disciplinary and intersectoral thinking. These reports and other academic and activist voices linked to them argued for greater voice and participation of developing countries in defining research priorities. In 1997, at the Lejondal Meeting in Stockholm with senior scientists including Göran Tomson, policymakers and representatives of various agencies with a stake in HPSR, an Interim Board for an Alliance was proposed. Since then, the creation of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in 2000 and of Health Systems Global in 2012 have consolidated the practice community of HPSR. In 2010, the first global symposium on health systems research was held in Montreux. PLoS Medicine commissioned three articles on the state-of-the-art in HPSR authored by a diverse group of global health academics. These articles critically examined the status of HPSR, current challenges and mapped the need to build capacity in HPSR and support local policy development and health systems strengthening, especially in LMICs. The series positioned HPSR as a field of inquiry that is driven by the nature of research question as opposed to being guided by the research methods.

Key concepts and themes HPSR can be distinguished from related fields of inquiry such as health services research from particular focus on wider systemic, structural and societal phenomena. The key concepts and themes in HPSR include the treatment of health systems as Complex adaptive system, a focus on governance and stewardship of health systems (as opposed to focusing on individual health behaviours), an intent to create knowledge for health equity and social justice, pursuing people-centred and community-oriented healthcare, focusing on Implementation research, exploring the role of power using political economy approaches, studying systems phenomena such as resilience and responsiveness, using participatory action research to co-produce research and action and adopting a learning health systems approach.

Methods and approaches Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is defined by the questions it asks (typically on functioning, reform, and governance of health policy and systems) than by specific methodologies (it is methods agnostic). Researchers and practitioners use biomedical or social science research or practice approaches that are best fit for a given question including realist and theory-driven approaches, participatory action research, policy analysis, implementation research or any methodological approach that is best fit for the given HPSR question. The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research has produced methods readers and evidence synthesis guidelines for HPSR.

Importance and impact

Challenges and criticism

Future directions

Key organisations and initiatives WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Geneva, Switzerland Health Systems Global

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Health policy and systems research

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Health policy and systems research claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Health policy and systems research before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Health policy and systems research ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Health policy and systems research

In research: Health policy and systems research appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Health policy and systems research in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Health policy and systems research is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Public health research, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Health policy and systems research outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Health policy and systems research in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Health policy and systems research means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Health policy and systems research out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Health policy and systems research in simple terms?

Why does Health policy and systems research matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Health policy and systems research?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Health policy and systems research.