Resource Type: Report
Authors:  Adam Koon, Lauren Windmeyer, Maryam Bigdelli, Jodi Charles, Fadi El Jardali, Walter Flores, Jesse Uneke, Sara Bennett for the Health Finance and Governance Project.
Published: November 2017

Resource Description:

There is growing interest in the ways different forms of knowledge can be used to strengthen policymaking in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) health systems. Additionally, health policy and systems researchers are increasingly aware of the need to design effective institutions for supporting knowledge utilization in LMICs. In order to clarify the use and institutionalization of knowledge as well as effects on health systems, a scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley framework.

The following research question guided our analysis: “What is known from the existing health literature about how actors use and incorporate knowledge into health system policymaking and what sorts of institutional arrangements facilitate this process in LMICs?”

While there is some evidence of how different uses and institutionalization of knowledge can strengthen health systems, the evidence on how these processes can ultimately improve health outcomes remains unclear. Further research on the ways in which knowledge can be effectively utilized and institutionalized is needed to advance collective understanding of the governance dimensions of health systems strengthening and enhance appropriate policy formulation.