Using concept mapping to identify policy options and interventions towards people- centred health care services: a multi stakeholders perspective

People-centred health care (PCC) services are identified by the WHO as important building blocks towards universal health coverage. In 2016 the WHO formulated a comprehensive framework on integrated PCC services based on an international expert consultation. Yet, expert opinions may fail to recognize the needs of all health system stakeholders. Therefore, a consultation method that includes the health workforce and laypersons, can be instrumental to elaborate this framework more in-depth. This research sought to identify participants’ perspectives on policy options and interventions to achieve people-centred health care services from a multi stakeholder perspective.

Community health workers and accountability: reflections from an international “think-in”

Community health workers (CHWs) are frequently put forward as a remedy for lack of health system capacity, including challenges associated with health service coverage and with low community engagement in the health system, and expected to enhance or embody health system accountability. During a ‘think in’, held in June of 2017, a diverse group of practitioners and researchers discussed the topic of CHWs and their possible roles in a larger “accountability ecosystem.” While CHWs are often conceptualized as cogs in a mechanistic health delivery system, at the end of the day, CHWs are people embedded in families, communities, and the ...

Health policy and systems research: the future of the field

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) has changed considerably over the last 20 years, but its main purpose remains to inform and influence health policies and systems. Whereas goals that underpin health systems have endured – such as a focus on health equity – contexts and priorities change, research methods progress, and health organisations continue to learn and adapt, in part by using HPSR. For HPSR to remain relevant, its practitioners need to re-think how health systems are conceptualised, to keep up with rapid changes in how we diagnose and manage disease and use information, and consider factors affecting people’s health ...

Case management for integrated care of frail older people in community settings

Demographic changes and advances in medical care and technology have led to an ageing population. Despite gains in life expectancy, compression of morbidity in later life has not been achieved, meaning that although growing numbers of older people are living longer, they are doing so with one or more long?term conditions. A key driving force for international policy agendas worldwide is to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of health and care services through the delivery of effective integrated care systems. Integrated care can be broadly defined as "an organising principle for care delivery that aims to improve patient ...

Characteristics of Indigenous primary health care service delivery models: a systematic scoping review

Indigenous populations have poorer health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. The experience of colonisation, and the long-term effects of being colonised, has caused inequalities in Indigenous health status, including physical, social, emotional, and mental health and wellbeing. This systematic scoping review aims to identify the characteristics of Indigenous primary health care service delivery models. 

Defining the global health system and systematically mapping its network of actors

The global health system has faced significant expansion over the past few decades, including continued increase in both the number and diversity of actors operating within it. However, without a stronger understanding of what the global health system encompasses, coordination of actors and resources to addres today´s global health challenges will not be possible

Health system innovations: adapting to rapid change

A fundamental challenge for health systems is the need to adapt to changes in the patterns of health service need, scientific and technological developments, and the economic and institutional contexts within which providers of health services are embedded. This is especially true of many low and middle-income countries, where the pace of multiple and interconnected changes is breath-taking. 

Good collaborative practice: reforming capacity building governance of international health research partnerships

In  line with the policy objetives of the United Nations sustainable Development Goals, this commentary seeks to examine the extent which provisions of international health research guidance promote capacity building and equitable partnerships in global health research. Theri evaluation finds that governance of collaborative research partnership, in resource- constrained settigns is limited but has improved with the implementation guidance of the International Ethical Guidelines for Health- related Research Involving Humans by The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS 2016)

Integrated care: learning between high-income, and low- and middle-income country health systems

Integration is a challenging concept to define, in part because of its multiple dimensions and varied scope: from integrated clinical care for individual patients to broader systems integration- or linkage-involving wide range of interconnected services. This commentary compares integrated care in high-and lower- income countries. Although contexts may differ significantly between these settings, there are many common features of how integration has been understood and common challenges in its implementation

Integrated care: better and cheaper

Integrated care improves health, increases quality of care and lowers costs. These three goals, this Triple Aim in other words, are achieved in many examples from all over the world: from Alaska to New Zealand, from Western Europe to South Africa. However, disseminating all these good examples is easier said than done, as nationwide implementation means the simultaneous realisation of the following six components of integrated care:

1. Multidisciplinary care pathways and decision trees

2. Patient self-management and shared decision-making by patients and professionals

3. Guaranteeing professional and patient- perceived quality

4. Population-based funding and shared savings

5. An Electronic ...