HEARD at the 5th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR)

November 5, 2018

Participants in the discussion on Respectful High Quality Care and Pathways to Universal Health Coverage at the 5th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR)

The Global Symposium on Health Systems Research is a biannual meeting which brings together diverse stakeholders involved in Health Systems and Policy Research. The HEARD Project participated in this year’s 5th Global Symposium with representation from a number of HEARD partner organizations: City University of New York School of Public Health, Ifakara Health Institute, University of California at Berkeley, University of California San Francisco, University of Indonesia School of Public Health and University Research Co., LLC, among others. As this Symposium represents a large gathering of stakeholders invested in generating and using evidence to strengthen health systems, it is a key opportunity to engage stakeholders invested (or potentially interested) in global health implementation science.

Dr. Asri Adisasmita, of the University of Indonesia, speaks about the importance of high-quality care for pregnant mothers

The HEARD Project supported a number of meetings to advance partnership and project objectives. The formally organized meetings include both an open and closed discussion on the Implementation Science Collaborative, a formal roundtable between leaders from schools of public health, and a session entitled Respectful High Quality Care and Pathways to Universal Health Coverage.  The last event on respectful high- quality care, was an opportunity to take stock of evidence needs of various stakeholders as we consider the next phase of efforts related to advancing respectful maternity care.  The discussion focused on the accomplishments made in this field since the HSR conference in 2016, and a consideration of how to continue the momentum and success in this field, particularly in the context of advancing towards universal health coverage. For example, should the RMC work expand to other women’s health issues, or should the constituency place additional focus on multi-dimensional stigmas that occur in the delivery room, for instance looking specifically at issues of disability, or legal or health status.  As the next steps for this movement are considered, participants highlighted the unmet need within the current framing.  Specifically, while there is a proliferation of innovations within programs to incorporate respectful maternity care in programming more systematic learning about implementation evidence is required to address current gaps and support the needs of policymakers and implementers to move towards the institutionalization of RMC in systems.

Beyond the formal meetings organized by the HEARD Project, the Symposium continues to be a valuable venue for advancing implementation science and creating dialogue with existing and future partners.  The HEARD Project is looking forward to joining at the next HSR Symposium which will take place in Dubai in 2020.