Articles

A systems approach to scale-up for population health improvement

Despite a number of important global public health successes, for many health behaviours there is a continued lack of interventions that have been sufficiently scaled up to achieve system-wide integration. Thi...

Authors: Harriet Koorts and Harry Rutter

Exploring mechanisms that explain how coalition groups are formed and how they work to sustain political priority for maternal and child health in Nigeria using the advocacy coalition framework

The unacceptably high rate of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria prompted the government to introduce a free maternal and child health (MCH) programme, which was stopped abruptly following a change in gov...

Authors: Chinyere Okeke, Ana Manzano, Uche Obi, Enyi Etiaba, Obinna Onwujekwe, Tolib Mirzoev and Benjamin Uzochukwu

Assessing organisational capacity for evidence-informed health policy and planning: an adaptation of the ORACLe tool for Australian primary health care organizations

Many nations have established primary health care (PHC) organizations that conduct PHC planning for defined geographical areas. The Australian Government established Primary Health Networks (PHNs) in 2015 to ...

Authors: Alice Windle, Sara Javanparast, Toby Freeman and Fran Baum

A framework for preferred practices in conducting culturally competent health research in a multicultural society

Improving the health and well-being of the whole population requires that health inequities be addressed. In an era of unprecedented international migration, meeting the health care needs of growing multicultu...

Authors: Lisa Woodland, Ilse Blignault, Cathy O’Callaghan and Ben Harris-Roxas

The role of self-care interventions on men’s health-seeking behaviours to advance their sexual and reproductive health and rights

Self-care interventions are influencing people’s access to, expectation and understanding of healthcare beyond formal health delivery systems. In doing so, self-care interventions could potentially improve hea...

Authors: Manjulaa Narasimhan, Carmen H. Logie, Kevin Moody, Jonathan Hopkins, Oswaldo Montoya and Anita Hardon

The added value of using the HEPA PAT for physical activity policy monitoring: a four-country comparison

Public policy is increasingly recognized as an important component of physical activity promotion. This paper reports on the current status of physical activity policy development and implementation in four Eu...

Authors: Peter Gelius, Sven Messing, Sarah Forberger, Jeroen Lakerveld, Fiona Mansergh, Wanda Wendel-Vos, Joanna Zukowska and Catherine Woods

Demographic forecasting of population aging in Greece and Cyprus: one big challenge for the Mediterranean health and social system long-term sustainability

With an increasing aging population and a lower ratio between the active and the dependent population, population aging is considered a global social and health challenge, associated with increased demand in h...

Authors: Demetris Lamnisos, Konstantinos Giannakou and Mihajlo (Michael) Jakovljevic

Governing heatwaves in Europe: comparing health policy and practices to better understand roles, responsibilities and collaboration

The expectation that climate change will further exacerbate extreme weather events such as heatwaves is of primary concern to policymakers and scientists. Effective governance is fundamental to preparedness fo...

Authors: Kirsten Vanderplanken, Peter van den Hazel, Michael Marx, Ahmad Zia Shams, Debarati Guha-Sapir and Joris Adriaan Frank van Loenhout

A landscape analysis of health technology assessment capacity in the Association of South-East Asian Nations region

Progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and institutionalizing healthcare priority setting through health technology assessment (HTA) in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region ...

Authors: Manushi Sharma, Yot Teerawattananon, Saudamini Vishwanath Dabak, Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, Fiona Pearce, Songyot Pilasant, Junainah Sabirin, Mayfong Mayxay, Melissa Guerrero, Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Sudigdo Sastroasmoro and Thant Sin Htoo

A call for better understanding of social media in surveillance and management of noncommunicable diseases

Using social media for health purposes has attracted much attention over the past decade. Given the challenges of population ageing and changes in national health profile and disease patterns following the epi...

Authors: Chi-Wai Lui, Zaimin Wang, Ning Wang, Gabriel Milinovich, Hang Ding, Kerrie Mengersen, Hilary Bambrick and Wenbiao Hu

Using a co-design process to develop an integrated model of care for delivering self-management intervention to multi-morbid COPD people in rural Nepal

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Nepal are not receiving adequate support to self-manage their chronic conditions, and primary health care can play a key role in the effective manage...

Authors: Uday Narayan Yadav, Jane Lloyd, Kedar Prasad Baral, Narendra Bhatta, Suresh Mehta and Mark Fort Harris

Pharmacy premises licensing policy formulation: experience from Ghana

Licences to operate pharmacy premises are issued by statutory regulatory bodies. The Health Institutions and Facilities Act (Act 829) and Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act (Act 857) regulate pharmacy pr...

Authors: Augustina Koduah, Reginald Sekyi-Brown, Joseph Kodjo Nsiah Nyoagbe, Daniel Amaning Danquah and Irene Kretchy

War on Diabetes in Singapore: a policy analysis

In April 2016, the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) declared War on Diabetes (WoD) to rally a whole-of-nation effort to reduce diabetes burden in the population. This study aimed to explore how this policy h...

Authors: Lai Meng Ow Yong and Ling Wan Pearline Koe

An assessment of implementation science research capacity in Uganda

In Uganda and other resource-poor countries, relevant research findings face a tortuous path to translation into policy and routine practice. Implementation science (ImSc) research could facilitate faster tran...

Authors: Aggrey S. Semeere, Fred C. Semitala, Olivia Lunkuse, Anne Katahoire, Nelson K. Sewankambo and Moses R. Kamya

Adapting evidence-informed population health interventions for new contexts: a scoping review of current practice

Implementing evidence-informed population health interventions in new contexts often requires adaptations. While the need to adapt interventions to better fit new contexts is recognised, uncertainties remain r...

Authors: A. Movsisyan, L. Arnold, L. Copeland, R. Evans, H. Littlecott, G. Moore, A. O’Cathain, L. Pfadenhauer, J. Segrott and E. Rehfuess

Co-production in local government: process, codification and capacity building of new knowledge in collective reflection spaces. Workshops findings from a UK mixed methods study

Co-production of research evidence is valued by local government to improve effective decision-making about public services in times of austerity. However, underlying structural issues of power (so-called ‘dar...

Authors: Peter van der Graaf, Mandy Cheetham, Sam Redgate, Clare Humble and Ashley Adamson

The state of health research governance in Africa: what do we know and how can we improve?

The developments in global health, digital technology, and persistent health systems challenges, coupled with global commitments like attainment of universal health coverage, have elevated the role of health r...

Authors: Juliet Nabyonga-Orem, James Avoka Asamani and Micheal Makanga

Direct from the COVID-19 crisis: research and innovation sparks in Brazil

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout more than 160 countries, infecting millions of people worldwide. To address this health emergency, countries have organized the flow of pr...

Authors: Mário Fabrício Fleury Rosa, Everton Nunes da Silva, Christina Pacheco, Marcos Vinícius Pereira Diógenes, Christopher Millett, Carlos Augusto Grabois Gadelha and Leonor Maria Pacheco Santos

What makes a ‘successful’ collaborative research project between public health practitioners and academics? A mixed-methods review of funding applications submitted to a local intervention evaluation scheme

The national Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme (PHPES) is a response-mode funded evaluation programme operated by the National Institute for Health Research School for Public Health Research (NIHR SPHR)...

Authors: Peter van der Graaf, Lindsay Blank, Eleanor Holding and Elizabeth Goyder

Exploring the theory, barriers and enablers for patient and public involvement across health, social care and patient safety: a systematic review of reviews

The emergence of patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare in the UK can be traced as far back as the 1970s. More recently, campaigns by harmed patients have led to a renewed focus on strengthening PP...

Authors: Josephine Ocloo, Sara Garfield, Bryony Dean Franklin and Shoba Dawson

Mixed method evaluation of the CEBHA+ integrated knowledge translation approach: a protocol

The Collaboration for Evidence-based Healthcare and Public Health in Africa (CEBHA+) is a research consortium concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases. CEBHA+ seeks t...

Authors: Lisa M. Pfadenhauer, Tanja Grath, Peter Delobelle, Nasreen Jessani, Joerg J. Meerpohl, Anke Rohwer, Bey-Marrié Schmidt, Ingrid Toews, Ann R. Akiteng, Gertrude Chapotera, Tamara Kredo, Naomi Levitt, Seleman Ntawuyirushintege, Kerstin Sell and Eva A. Rehfuess

Blending an implementation science framework with principles of proportionate universalism to support physical activity promotion in primary healthcare while addressing health inequities

Globally, insufficient physical activity (PA) is one of the main risk factors for premature mortality. Although insufficient PA is prevalent in nearly every demographic, people with socio-economic disadvantage...

Authors: Bojana Klepac Pogrmilovic, Sarah Linke and Melinda Craike

Prioritizing knowledge translation in low- and middle-income countries to support pandemic response and preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has created urgent demand around the world for knowledge generation about a novel coronavirus, its transmission, and control, putting academic institutions at the frontline of politics. W...

Authors: Yodi Mahendradhata and Anna Kalbarczyk

Assessing progress in the national health financing system towards universal health coverage in Iran: a mixed-method study protocol

Health financing systems have a key role in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) across the globe. However, little is known about how best to monitor health financing system progress towards UHC, especial...

Authors: Mina Anjomshoa, Ali Akbari Sari and Amirhossein Takian

Collaborative research and knowledge translation on road crashes in Burkina Faso: the police perspective 18 months on

In this commentary, we present a follow-up of two articles published in 2017 and 2018 about road traffic crashes, which is an important public health issue in Africa and Burkina Faso. The first article reporte...

Authors: Christian Dagenais, Michelle Proulx, Esther Mc Sween-Cadieux, Aude Nikiema, Emmanuel Bonnet, Valéry Ridde and Paul-André Somé

Health provider perspectives on the implementation of the same-day-ART initiation policy in the Gauteng province of South Africa

In September 2016, South Africa (SA) began implementing the universal-test-and-treat (UTT) policy in hopes of attaining the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets by 2020. The SA National Department of Health provided a furt...

Authors: Dorina Onoya, Idah Mokhele, Tembeka Sineke, Bulelwa Mngoma, Aneesa Moolla, Marnie Vujovic, Jacob Bor, Jonas Langa and Matthew P. Fox

Menstrual hygiene management in schools: midway progress update on the “MHM in Ten” 2014–2024 global agenda

Progress has been made in recent years to bring attention to the challenges faced by school-aged girls around managing menstruation in educational settings that lack adequate physical environments and social s...

Authors: Marni Sommer, Bethany A. Caruso, Belen Torondel, Elodie C. Warren, Brooke Yamakoshi, Jackie Haver, Jeanne Long, Thérèse Mahon, Ella Nalinponguit, Neville Okwaro and Penelope A. Phillips-Howard

Health research system resilience: lesson learned from the COVID-19 crisis

Producing evidence in epidemics is crucial to control the current epidemic and prevent its recurrence in the future. Data must be collected and analyzed rapidly to recognize the most efficient and feasible met...

Authors: Bahareh Yazdizadeh, Reza Majdzadeh, Ayat Ahmadi and Bita Mesgarpour

Study protocol: analysis of regional lung health policies and stakeholders in Africa

Lung health is a critical area for research in sub-Saharan Africa. The International Multidisciplinary Programme to Address Lung Health and TB in Africa (IMPALA) is a collaborative programme that seeks to fill...

Authors: Claire Jensen, Emma Heneine, Brenda Mungai, Violet Murunga, Hleziwe Hara, Rose Oronje, Angela Obasi, Bertie Squire and Eliya Zulu

Applying systems thinking to knowledge mobilisation in public health

Knowledge mobilisation (KM) is a vital strategy in efforts to improve public health policy and practice. Linear models describing knowledge transfer and translation have moved towards multi-directional and com...

Authors: Abby Haynes, Lucie Rychetnik, Diane Finegood, Michelle Irving, Louise Freebairn and Penelope Hawe

Developing strategies to attract, retain and support midwives in rural fragile settings: participatory workshops with health system stakeholders in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Midwifery plays a vital role in the quality of care as well as rapid and sustained reductions in maternal and newborn mortality. Like most other sub-Saharan African countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo ...

Authors: Amuda Baba, Tim Martineau, Sally Theobald, Paluku Sabuni, Marie Muziakukwa Nobabo, Ajaruva Alitimango, John Kisembo Katabuka and Joanna Raven

Operationalising health systems thinking: a pathway to high effective coverage

The global health community has recognised the importance of defining and measuring the effective coverage of health interventions and their implementation strength to monitor progress towards global mortality...

Authors: Lara M. E. Vaz, Lynne Franco, Tanya Guenther, Kelsey Simmons, Samantha Herrera and Stephen N. Wall

Attempt to assess Canada’s expertise in global health research falls short

The recent article by Nagi et al. (Health Res Policy Syst 18:37, 2020) considerably underestimates the size of the global health research community in Canada as well as its geographical distribution, its breadth ...

Authors: Theresa W. Gyorkos

Limitations in a rapid environmental scan of global health research expertise point to the need for more open data

Authors: Ranjana Nagi, Susan Rogers Van Katwyk and Steven J. Hoffman

Barriers and enablers to source plasma donation by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men under revised eligibility criteria: protocol for a multiple stakeholder feasibility study

Blood donation policy in Canada for gay, bisexual and other men who have had sex with men (gbMSM) has changed progressively in the last decade from indefinite deferral to 3-month deferral from last male-to-mal...

Authors: Elisabeth Vesnaver, Mindy Goldman, Sheila O’Brien, Paul MacPherson, Terrie Butler-Foster, Don Lapierre, Joanne Otis, Dana V. Devine, Marc Germain, Andrew Rosser, Richard MacDonagh, Taylor Randall, William Osbourne-Sorrell, Broderic Clement-Thorne, Taim Bilal Al-Bakri, Kyle A. Rubini…

Acute stroke awareness of family physicians: translation of policy to practice

Translating clinical guidelines into routine clinical practice is mandatory to achieve population level improvement of health. Emergence of specific therapy for acute stroke yielded the ‘time is brain’ concept...

Authors: Szilvia Harsanyi, Nandor Balogh, Laszlo Robert Kolozsvari, Laszlo Mezes, Csaba Papp and Judit Zsuga

Lessons learned from descriptions and evaluations of knowledge translation platforms supporting evidence-informed policy-making in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Knowledge translation (KT) platforms are organisations, initiatives and networks that focus on supporting evidence-informed policy-making at least in part about the health-system arrangements that determine wh...

Authors: Arun C. R. Partridge, Cristián Mansilla, Harkanwal Randhawa, John N. Lavis, Fadi El-Jardali and Nelson K. Sewankambo

A research agenda for non-communicable disease prevention and control in India

Non-communicable diseases contribute to 62% of total deaths in India; of concern are the preventable premature deaths, which account for a staggering 48% of mortality. The objective of this study was to establ...

Authors: Ishu Kataria, Mariam Siddiqui, Theresa Gillespie, Michael Goodman, Preet K. Dhillon, Carla Bann and Linda Squiers

Public health policy-making for hearing loss: stakeholders’ evaluation of a novel eHealth tool

Hearing loss (HL) affects 466 million people of all ages worldwide, with a rapidly increasing prevalence, and therefore requires appropriate public health policies. Multi-disciplinary approaches that make use ...

Authors: Giorgos Dritsakis, Lyubov Trenkova, Mariola Śliwińska-Kowalska, Dario Brdarić, Niels Henrik Pontoppidan, Panagiotis Katrakazas and Doris-Eva Bamiou

Correction to: a narrative review of economic constructs in commonly used implementation and scale-up theories, frameworks and models

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Vicki Brown, Huong Tran, Miranda Blake, Rachel Laws and Marj Moodie

Conceptualising characteristics of resources withdrawal from medical services: a systematic qualitative synthesis

Terms used to describe government-led resource withdrawal from ineffective and unsafe medical services, including ‘rationing’ and ‘disinvestment’, have tended to be used interchangeably, despite having distinc...

Authors: Mark Embrett, Glen E. Randall, John N. Lavis and Michelle L. Dion

The role of Allied Health Professions and Nursing Research Internships in developing a research culture: a mixed-methods exploration of stakeholder perspectives

Developing research capability and capacity within the healthcare professions is a challenge throughout diverse international settings. Within England, the National Institute for Health Research aimed to addre...

Authors: J. Nightingale, S. Fowler-Davis, K. Grafton, S. Kelly, C. Langham, R. Lewis, B. Bianco and D. Harrop

How might improved estimates of HIV programme outcomes influence practice? A formative study of evidence, dissemination and response

While HIV programmes have started millions of persons on life-saving antiretroviral therapy in Africa, longitudinal health information systems are frail and, therefore, data about long-term survival is often i...

Authors: Njekwa Mukamba, Laura K. Beres, Chanda Mwamba, Jeanna Wallenta Law, Stephanie M. Topp, Sandra Simbeza, Kombatende Sikombe, Nancy Padian, Charles B. Holmes, Elvin H. Geng and Izukanji Sikazwe

Making change last? Exploring the value of sustainability approaches in healthcare: a scoping review

Numerous models, tools and frameworks have been produced to improve the sustainability of evidence-based interventions. Due to the vast number available, choosing the most appropriate one is increasingly diffi...

Authors: L. Lennox, A. Linwood-Amor, L. Maher and J. Reed

Correction to: Self-care and remote care during pregnancy: a new paradigm?

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: A. Metin Gülmezoglu, Anne Ammerdorffer, Manjulaa Narasimhan, Alyce N. Wilson, Joshua P. Vogel, Lale Say and Özge Tunçalp

Scaling up population health interventions from decision to sustainability – a window of opportunity? A qualitative view from policy-makers

While known efficacious preventive health interventions exist, the current capacity to scale up these interventions is limited. In recent years, much attention has focussed on developing frameworks and methods...

Authors: Karen Lee, Femke van Nassau, Anne Grunseit, Kathleen Conte, Andrew Milat, Luke Wolfenden and Adrian Bauman

Bridging the research–practice gap in healthcare: a rapid review of research translation centres in England and Australia

Large-scale partnerships between universities and health services are widely seen as vehicles for bridging the evidence–practice gap and for accelerating the adoption of new evidence in healthcare. Recently, d...

Authors: Tracy Robinson, Cate Bailey, Heather Morris, Prue Burns, Angela Melder, Charlotte Croft, Dmitrios Spyridonidis, Halyo Bismantara, Helen Skouteris and Helena Teede

Strengthening National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups in resource-limited settings: current and potential linkages with polio national certification committees

Countries are transitioning assets and functions from polio eradication to integrated immunization and surveillance activities. We assessed the extent of linkages between and perceptions of National Immunizati...

Authors: Sharon A. Greene, Blanche-Philomene Melanga Anya, Humayun Asghar, Irtaza A. Chaudhri, S. Deblina Datta, Morgane E. Donadel, Koffi Isidore Kouadio, Abigail M. Shefer and Kathleen F. Cavallaro

A narrative review of economic constructs in commonly used implementation and scale-up theories, frameworks and models

Translating research evidence into practice is challenging and, to date, there are relatively few public health interventions that have been effectively and cost-effectively implemented and delivered at scale....

Authors: Brown Vicki, Tran Huong, Blake Miranda, Laws Rachel and Moodie Marj

Policy dialogue and participation: a new way of crafting a national health financing strategy in Morocco

Policy dialogue for health policies has started to gain importance in recent years, especially for complex issues such as health financing. Moroccan health financing has faced several challenges during the las...

Authors: El Houcine Akhnif, Hafid Hachri, Abdelouahab Belmadani, Awad Mataria and Maryam Bigdeli