Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action

dc.contributor.authorBennett, Saraen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAgyepong, Irene Akuaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSheikh, Kabiren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHanson, Karaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSsengooba, Freddieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGilson, Lucyen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-11T06:57:32Z
dc.date.available2016-01-11T06:57:32Z
dc.date.issued2011en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe lack of clarity and shared understanding regarding the scientific foundations of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) [1] potentially has very negative consequences for the field [2]. Disagreement over the value of different types of theoretical frameworks and research methods can lead to inappropriate evaluations of research proposals, contradictory reviews of the same paper, and delays in publication. Excessive time may be spent communicating broad frameworks to other researchers within HPSR, inhibiting progression to more detailed and specific conversations. Communication barriers may discourage inter-disciplinary collaboration, driving researchers back to their disciplinary safety zones, and creating potential for conflict that may discourage younger researchers who may be less secure in their career from staying in the field. As the second paper in this series concluded [1], there is an urgent need to build understanding across disciplinary boundaries. This final paper in the "Building the Field of HPSR" series turns to practical questions concerning how to remove structural barriers that currently inhibit the development of the HPSR field and thus unlock HPSR capacities. HPSR suffers from many of the same problems as other branches of health research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): major imbalances between the resources available in high- versus low- and middle-income contexts [3], acute shortages of skilled researchers (especially senior ones), and relatively few organizations that house HPSR expertise [4]. Historically, low levels of funding for HPSR compared to clinical or biomedical research have compounded these problems. Many papers provide relevant recommendations to address health research capacity issues in LMICs [5]–[8]. However, there is also a nexus of issues specific to HPSR that currently constrains development of the field. This paper builds on the analysis of the previous papers in this series [1],[9] to investigate the practical problems faced and then develops an agenda for building the HPSR field.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBennett, S., Agyepong, I. A., Sheikh, K., Hanson, K., Ssengooba, F., & Gilson, L. (2011). Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action. <i>PLOS Medicince</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16322en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBennett, Sara, Irene Akua Agyepong, Kabir Sheikh, Kara Hanson, Freddie Ssengooba, and Lucy Gilson "Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action." <i>PLOS Medicince</i> (2011) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16322en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBennett, S., Akua Agyepong, I., Sheikh, K., Hanson, K., Ssengooba, F., & Gilson, L. (2011). Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action. PLoS Medicine, 8(8), 1023. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001081en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Bennett, Sara AU - Agyepong, Irene Akua AU - Sheikh, Kabir AU - Hanson, Kara AU - Ssengooba, Freddie AU - Gilson, Lucy AB - The lack of clarity and shared understanding regarding the scientific foundations of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) [1] potentially has very negative consequences for the field [2]. Disagreement over the value of different types of theoretical frameworks and research methods can lead to inappropriate evaluations of research proposals, contradictory reviews of the same paper, and delays in publication. Excessive time may be spent communicating broad frameworks to other researchers within HPSR, inhibiting progression to more detailed and specific conversations. Communication barriers may discourage inter-disciplinary collaboration, driving researchers back to their disciplinary safety zones, and creating potential for conflict that may discourage younger researchers who may be less secure in their career from staying in the field. As the second paper in this series concluded [1], there is an urgent need to build understanding across disciplinary boundaries. This final paper in the "Building the Field of HPSR" series turns to practical questions concerning how to remove structural barriers that currently inhibit the development of the HPSR field and thus unlock HPSR capacities. HPSR suffers from many of the same problems as other branches of health research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): major imbalances between the resources available in high- versus low- and middle-income contexts [3], acute shortages of skilled researchers (especially senior ones), and relatively few organizations that house HPSR expertise [4]. Historically, low levels of funding for HPSR compared to clinical or biomedical research have compounded these problems. Many papers provide relevant recommendations to address health research capacity issues in LMICs [5]–[8]. However, there is also a nexus of issues specific to HPSR that currently constrains development of the field. This paper builds on the analysis of the previous papers in this series [1],[9] to investigate the practical problems faced and then develops an agenda for building the HPSR field. DA - 2011 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001081 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLOS Medicince LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2011 T1 - Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action TI - Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16322 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16322
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001081
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBennett S, Agyepong IA, Sheikh K, Hanson K, Ssengooba F, Gilson L. Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action. PLOS Medicince. 2011; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16322.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2011 Bennett et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLOS Medicinceen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosmedicineen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth services researchen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth care policyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherScience policyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth systems strengtheningen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSocial sciencesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGlobal healthen_ZA
dc.subject.otherResearch facilitiesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherResearch grantsen_ZA
dc.titleBuilding the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for actionen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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