Studying organisational change in Indian district health systems: end of a PhD journey

On 21st April, 2015 I defended my public health PhD dissertation at Universite

Public defence at UCL. Clicking the photo takes you to the ITM public health department's blog on the defence

Public defence at UCL. Clicking the photo takes you to the ITM public health department’s blog on the defence

Catholique de Louvain in Brussels. I sought to understand  organisational change within district health systems in an Indian district. The research was carried out in Tumkur district in southern Karnataka (on which I have blogged a bit). I focused on understanding “change” within a public service bureaucracy like the one we have in Karnataka. Continue reading

Health managers and organisational change in Indian districts

As Indian districts are increasingly finding themselves at the receiving end of new monies flowing in under the National Health Mission, something that

Flyer of panel discussion where the paper was released at the Third Global Symposium on HSR in Cape Town (October 2014)

Flyer of panel discussion where the paper was released at the Third Global Symposium on HSR in Cape Town (October 2014)

everybody were increasingly pushing for, we find ourselves in a strange predicament, the sheer lack of capacity to spend these new resources. As more and more resources become available, our public health services face a curious gap of not knowing how to make the best use of the new resources as well as the powers that the decentralisation process is bringing. Continue reading

Evaluating healthcare interventions: Answering the HOW question

Health programme evaluation is still coming of age in India. In general, seeking

Evaluating Healthcare Interventions: Answering the 'How" Question

Evaluating Healthcare Interventions: Answering the ‘How” Question

an evidence-base for decision-making within public services is still a missing feature in our policymaking process. In any case, it is not because there is scientific evidence that something becomes (or should become) a policy anyway. This presumptuousness has (rightly) frustrated many a researcher-scientist. Continue reading

Changing mindsets: Strategy on health policy and systems research

Following review submitted to the Health Systems newsletter

On 1 November, 2012 at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems

WHO-Alliance’s strategy document on health policy and systems research (Image: WHO)

Research at Beijing, the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research launched a strategy document, “Changing Mindsets: Strategy on Health Policy and Systems Research”. The document is an important contribution to the movement towards clarifying and strengthening the scope and reach of health systems research (also health policy and systems research). Continue reading