Evaluating the Process and Extent of Institutionalization: A Case Study of a Rapid Response Unit for Health Policy in Burkina Faso

Document Type: Original Article

Authors

1 Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

2 Ministry of Health, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

3 McMaster Health Forum, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

4 Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, and Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Abstract

Background
Good decision-making requires gathering and using sufficient information. Several knowledge translation platforms have been introduced in Burkina Faso to support evidence-informed decision-making. One of these is the rapid response service for health. This platform aims to provide quick access for policy-makers in Burkina Faso to highquality research evidence about health systems. The purpose of this study is to describe the process and extent of the institutionalization of the rapid response service.
 
Methods
A qualitative case study design was used, drawing on interviews with policy-makers, together with documentary analysis. Previously used institutionalization frameworks were combined to guide the analysis.
 
Results
Burkina Faso’s rapid response service has largely reached the consolidation phase of the institutionalization process but not yet the final phase of maturity. The impetus for the project came from designated project leaders, who convinced policy-makers of the importance of the rapid response service, and obtained resources to run a pilot. During the expansion stage, additional policy-makers at national and sub-national levels began to use the service. Unit staff also tried to improve the way it was delivered, based on lessons learned during the pilot stage. The service has, however, stagnated at the consolidation stage, and not moved into the final phase of maturity.
 
Conclusion
The institutionalization process for the rapid response service in Burkina Faso has been fluid rather than linear, with some areas developing faster than others. The service has reached the consolidation stage, but now requires additional efforts to reach maturity.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Stranks JW. Human Factors and Behavioural Safety. Routledge; 2007.
  2. Chaudhuri A, De K, Chatterjee D. Solution of the decision making problems using fuzzy soft relations. arXiv website. https://arxiv.org/abs/1304.7238. Published  2013.
  3. Malloch K, Porter-O'Grady T. The Quantum Leader: Applications for the New World of Work. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2009.
  4. Hicks Patrick J, Steele JC, Spencer SM. Decision Making Processes and Outcomes. J Aging Res. 2013;2013:367208. DOI:10.1155/2013/367208
  5. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Evidence-based methodologies for public health – How to assess the best available evidence when time is limited and there is lack of sound evidence. Stockholm: ECDC; 2011.
  6. Strydom WF, Funke N, Nienaber S, Nortje K, Steyn M. Evidence-based policymaking: a review. S Afr J Sci. 2010;106(5-6):17-24.
  7. Campbell S, Benita S, Coates E, Davies P, Penn G. Analysis for policy: Evidence-based policy in practice. Government Social Research Unit; 2007.
  8. Wilson DC, Smith NA, Blakey NC, Shaxson L. Using research-based knowledge to underpin waste and resources policy. Waste Manag Res. 2007;25(3):247-256.
  9. Hanney SR, Gonzalez-Block MA, Buxton MJ, Kogan M. The utilisation of health research in policy-making: Concepts, examples, and methods of assessment. HERG Research Report 28;  2010.
  10. Lavis J, Davies H, Oxman A, Denis J-L, Golden-Biddle K, Ferlie E. Towards systematic reviews that inform health care management and policy-making. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2005;10(suppl 1):35-48. DOI:10.1258/1355819054308549
  11. Innvær S, Vist G, Trommald M, Oxman A. Health policy-makers' perceptions of their use of evidence: a systematic review. J Health Serv Res Policy.. 2002;7(4):239-244. DOI:10.1258/135581902320432778
  12. Lavis JN. Research, public policymaking, and knowledge‐translation processes: Canadian efforts to build bridges. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2006;26(1):37-45.
  13. Mijumbi RM, Oxman AD, Panisset U, Sewankambo NK. Feasibility of a rapid response mechanism to meet policymakers' urgent needs for research evidence about health systems in a low income country: a case study. Implement Sci. 2014;9:114. DOI:10.1186/s13012-014-0114-z
  14. Mijumbi-Deve R, Sewankambo NK. A process evaluation to assess contextual factors associated with the uptake of a rapid response service to support health systems’ decision-making in Uganda. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2017; Forthcoming.
  15. Quality Assurance Project. A modern paradigm for improving healthcare quality. Published 2001.
  16. Chen, L, Naughton, B. An institutionalized policy-making mechanism: China’s return to techno-industrial policy. Res Policy. 2016;45(10):2138-2152. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2016.09.014
  17. Sridhar D, Tamashiro T. Vertical funds in the health sector: lessons for education from the Global Fund and GAVI. Published 2010.
  18. Bennett S, Singh S, Ozawa S, Tran N, Kang JS. Sustainability of donor programs: evaluating and informing the transition of a large HIV prevention program in India to local ownership. Glob Health Action. 2011;4. doi:10.3402/gha.v4i0.7360
  19. Yin R. Changing Urban Bureaucracies: How New Practices Become Routinized. The Rand Corporation, R-2277-NSF; 1978.
  20. Knoblauch H, Wilke R. The Common Denominator: The Reception and Impact of Berger and Luckmann’s The Social Construction of Reality. Hum Stud. 2016;39(1):51-69. doi:10.1007/s10746-016-9387-3
  21. Hoppe T, Van Der Vegt A, Stegmaier P. Presenting a framework to analyze local climate policy and action in small and medium-sized cities. Sustainability. 2016;8(9):847.
  22. World Bank. Promoting the institutionalization of national health accounts: a global strategic action plan. World Bank; 2010.
  23. Maeda A, Harrit MN, Mabuchi S, Siadat B, Nagpal S. Creating Evidence for Better Health Financing Decisions: A Strategic Guide for the Institutionalization of National Health Accounts. World Bank Publications; 2012.
  24. Powell W, Dimaggio PJ, eds. The New Institutionalism in organizational Analysis. University of Chicago Press, 2012.
  25. Ashton J. Monitoring the quality of hospital care. https://www.usaidassist.org/sites/assist/files/hspcarebook501.pdf.  2000.
  26. March JG, Olsen JP. The new institutionalism: organizational factors in political life. Revista de Sociologia e Política. 2008;16(31)121-142.
  27. Muthusamy SK, White MA. Learning and knowledge transfer in strategic alliances: a social exchange view. Organ Stud. 2005;26(3)415-441.
  28. Hilty DM, Srinivasan M. Evidence-based practice manual: research and outcome measures in health and human services. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162(4):831-832. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.4.831
  29. Renzi M. An integrated toolkit for institutional development. Public Adm Dev. 1996;16(5):469-483.
  30. Flick U. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage; 2013.
  31. Charmaz K. Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage; 2006. Introducing Qualitative Methods Series.
  32. Patton M, Schwandt T. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods 4e + Schwandt: The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry 4e. SAGE; 2014.
  33. Olsen W. Triangulation in social research: qualitative and quantitative methods can really be mixed. Dev Sociol. 2004;20:103-118.
  34. Reiman T, Rollenhagen C, Pietikäinen E, et al. Principles of adaptive management in complex safety–critical organizations. Saf Sci. 2015;71:80-92. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2014.07.021
  35. Freitas CASd, Guimarães TdA. Isomorphism, institutionalization and legitimacy: operational auditing at the court of auditors. Revista de Administração Contemporânea. 2007;11(SPE1):153-175.
  36. Burkina Faso. Arrêté N°2012-580 portant attributions et organisation de la Direction générale de l’information et des statistiques sanitaires. Ministry of Health; 2012.
  37. Lin V, Maxwell J, Phua K-L, Healy J. Responding to requests for information on health systems from policy makers in Asian countries. Alliance for health policy and systems research; 2007.
  38. Zida A. Guide de mise en œuvre du service de reponses rapides au Burkina Faso. Ministere de la sante; 2011.
  39. Zida A. Rapport d’évaluation de la mise en œuvre du service de réponse rapide (rapport provisoire): Ministere de la sante; 2013.
  40. Kasonde JM, Campbell S. Creating a knowledge translation platform: nine lessons from the Zambia Forum for Health Research. Health Res Policy Syst. 2012;10:31. DOI:10.1186/1478-4505-10-31
  41. El-Jardali F, Lavis JN, Ataya N, Jamal D. Use of health systems and policy research evidence in the health policymaking in eastern Mediterranean countries: views and practices of researchers. Implement Sci. 2012;7:2. DOI:10.1186/1748-5908-7-2
  42. Franco LM, Silimperi DR, Veldhuyzen van Zanten T, et al. Sustaining quality of healthcare: institutionalization of quality assurance. QA Monograph Series. 2002;2(1):1-59.
  43. Harnessing National Health Accounts to Strengthen Policymaking: A Compendium of Case Studies. World Bank; 2011.
  44. Hong LK, Duff RW. Modulated participant-observation: Managing the dilemma of distance in field research. Field Methods. 2002;14(2):190-196.
  45. Carnevale FA, Macdonald ME, Bluebond-Langner M, McKeever P. Using participant observation in pediatric health care settings: ethical challenges and solutions. J Child Health Care. 2008;12(1):18-32. 
International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Volume 7, Issue 1
January 2018
Pages 15-26

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics