Table 2 Nature of evidence sought by global health investors
Nature of Evidence Requested | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Impact of HSS Investments | Relative effectiveness of HSS investments | Implementation research, policy analysis & other forms of systems research | |
Rationale | • To demonstrate effectiveness (or lack thereof) of HSS investments in improving health outcomes • To guide decision making between HSS investments versus other (e.g. disease specific) investments | To guide investment decisions within HSS (e.g. whether to target health information systems or health workforce strengthening) | To provide insight on how best to implement HSS strategies. |
Methodological considerations | • Need to assess attribution or contribution of HSS to impact • Evaluating complex bundles of HSS interventions that might address different health system building blocks • Cost effectiveness analysis vis a vis other non-HSS investments. • Affected by time frame – HSS investments may require longer time to impact and therefore require longer evaluation timeframes | • Cost effectiveness analysis of different types of HSS interventions • Concerns about ability of health systems to absorb certain types of HSS investments | • Implementation research to address questions of “how” best to implement HSS • Political economy analysis to assess and address resistance to HSS • Approaches to integrating tacit knowledge into the evidence base |