WHO Strategy on Health Policy and Systems Research

Overview

The WHO Strategy on Health Policy and Systems Research, Changing Mindsets, advocates for greater generation and use of research evidence in health policy and builds a case for further investment in this critical area of research. The World Health Organization took the lead in developing this strategy based on robust science while also drawing on the experience and wisdom of multiple stakeholders in a transparent, inclusive and participatory manner.

Changing Mindsets has three broad aims:

• to unify the worlds of research and decision-making and connect the various disciplines of research that generate knowledge to inform and strengthen health systems
• to contribute a broader understanding of the field of HPSR by clarifying the scope and role HPSR
• to advocate for a paradigm that emphasizes the need for close collaboration between researchers and decision-makers rather than work along parallel pathways

Launched in November 2012 at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, Changing Mindsets represents a unique milestone in the evolution of health policy and systems research as the first-ever global-level strategy on HPSR. The strategy is intended for a wide network of health systems actors including researchers, policy-makers, managers, implementers, and trans-disciplinary researchers.