Health Systems and Policy (HSP) research group
Latest news
Claudia Hanson gets her PhD from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Today HSP-member Claudia Hanson was awarded her PhD from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. HSP Congrats!
Peter Waiswa featured in NewVision, Uganda's leading daily
HSP member Peter Waiswa was featured in Sunday's edition of NewVision, Uganda's leading daily, as Hero of the Month.
Latest publications
The establishment and expansion of an innovative centre for rational pharmacotherapy - determinants and challenges
Accepted International Journal of Health Planning and Management 2013
Routine vaccination coverage in low- and middle-income countries: further arguments for accelerating support to child vaccination services
Global Health Action 2013, 6:20343 - http//dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v6i0.20343
Oral rehydration therapy products - a plaque pH study under normal and dry mouth conditions.
International Dental Journal. Article first published online: 27 APR 2013
Hospital Stay as a Proxy Indicator for Severe Injury in Earthquakes: A Retrospective Analysis.
PloS One. 2013; 8(4): e61371.
High Adherence to Antimalarials and Antibiotics under Integrated Community Case Management of Illness in Children Less than Five Years in Eastern Uganda
PLoS ONE 8(3): e60481. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060481
Our research
Health systems and policy research covers both research on and for policy. Our research is within the mulitidisciplinary field of scientific enquiry that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and internal and external processes, health technologies and personal behaviours affect access to health care systems, the quality and cost of health care and ultimately our health and well-being. Factors influencing effective use of evidence in policy and practice is a key research area. Our research domains include individuals, families, organizations, institutions, communities, populations and societies. Our main priorities are vulnerable groups in resource-deprived settings.
Figure: Health systems in a globalized world
In our globalized world, health systems can be divided into six building blocks: Service Delivery, Human Resources, Information, Financing, Medicines & technologies and Leadership. These blocks are operating within their own dynamic response to the fluctuating environment in which they coexist. Good health services are those that deliver effective, safe and quality personal and non-personal health interventions to those in need in a timely and geographically appropriate manner, and with a minimum waste of resources. Research is required to improve health systems and close the Know-Do gap both at service delivery and policy levels. We are spurred by the striking paradox that ever-increasing amounts of medical knowledge are not turned into practice. The evaluation of complex interventions is necessary and challenging, requiring use of appropriate designs and development of robust mixed methods. In addition, globalization processes emphasize the need for research on the influence of context on health systems, policy and practice and how to get research into policy and practice.
"Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) can address any or several of the health systems building blocks and their ultimate objective to promote the coverage, quality, efficiency and equity of health systems. In doing so, it acknowledges the inherent connections and dynamics among the different building blocks in assessing and understanding how interventions might play out across them. It also seeks to unpack the behaviour, reactions, and interconnectedness of health systems and the people within those systems. The way HPSR conceptualizes and analyzes these interactions helps to illuminate not only what works, but for whom, and under what circumstances." (Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research)
To know more about ongoing research, please go on to our:
