Tag: health systems
Interview: Evidence review on health systems strengthening Due to the lack of clear definitions and the potentially huge volume of evidence, comprehensive reviews of health systems strengthening (HSS) interventions are relatively uncommon. In this interview lead author Sophie Witter (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh) discusses one such rapid evidence review, recently commissioned by the UK Department for… Read more
Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) is used to guide the implementation of a programme, understand the performance of the programme, and assess the best approach to future developments. To ensure the success of healthcare system reforms, and projects being implemented around them, an innovative MEL design is needed. Often, traditional models measuring the outputs of… Read more
Effective health planning is critical in ensuring affordable, accessible, and high quality health services for all. Many low- and middle-income countries rely on donor funding to establish or maintain the basic healthcare services, and often struggle to ensure sustainability of these when sources of funding in the sector change. Multilateral organisations and government partners have… Read more
According to the World Bank, fragility, conflict, and violence is a critical development challenge that threatens efforts to end extreme poverty, affecting both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many of the world’s crises are caused by or exacerbated by fragility, from violent conflict to internal and external displacements and climate shocks. Compared to other LMICs, fragile… Read more
Capacity building is an important element in health for successfully tackling social health inequalities by improving the capacity of health actors and institutions at national, regional, and local levels. Capacity building looks at “development of sustainable skills, organisational structures, resources, and commitment to health improvement in health and other sectors, to prolong and multiply health gains”…. Read more
A seminar organised by Oxford Policy Management in June 2017 brought together practitioners and policy makers to exchange insights on practical challenges for the implementation of social health protection (SHP) programmes, and social health insurance (SHI) in particular. Kicked-off with a presentation of recent experiences from Bangladesh and Pakistan, the discussion touched on a range… Read more
This project completion review (PRC) provides details on the outputs, lessons and recommendations from the DFID funded programme ‘Transition and Recovery of Nepal’s Health System’ which came to a close in May 2017. The aim of the programme was to provide technical assistance to support the recovery of Nepal’s damaged health services, across 31 districts… Read more
While ‘accountability’ has become an increasingly popular buzzword in health systems debates and health service delivery, it has multiple – and contested – meanings. From 19-21 July 2017, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) brought together 80-plus activists, researchers, public health practitioners and policy makers to examine critically the forces that shape accountability in health systems, from… Read more
This freely accessible online learning resource produced by HEART provides an overview of the key issues in relation to quality of services (QoS) for maternal and newborn health (MNH), and signposts key resources for further reading. Originally designed for the cadre of Health Advisers at DFID, it has been adapted to suit a broad range of… Read more
Community health workers (CHWs) are uniquely placed to link communities with the health system, playing a role in improving the reach of health systems and bringing health services closer to hard-to-reach and marginalised groups. A systematic review was conducted to determine the extent of equity of CHW programmes and to identify intervention design factors which… Read more
Rosemary Morgan is a Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In this HEART talks video, she talks about the project she works on, ‘Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGs): Building Stronger Health Systems’, and about the importance of making gender integral in health systems research. RinGs came about as a project… Read more