Background and ObjectivesHealth services research (HSR) seeks to enhance the quality, organization and management of health services. It draws on research expertise from a range of backgrounds including economics, epidemiology, medicine, nursing, statistics and systematic reviews. From developing an understanding of how health systems and services behave (observational research) through testing new interventions, services and ways of working (experimental research) HSR draws on a range of methodological approaches, including cluster randomized controlled trial. To underpin this vitally important research we established the Health Services Research Center (HSRC) in 2014.
Health Services Research is ideal for an academic health system as it is conducted in different settings such as academia, government, and clinical health care settings, with a multidisciplinary and diverse approach which includes medicine, psychology, sociology, statistics, public health, public policy and engineering.
The Health Services Research Center has been developed around a partnership model with involvement of our Qatar based AHS partners, especially those with an academic interest in healthcare development, such as Qatar University and the University of Calgary in Qatar. As such, there are immense prospects for developing skills via training modules and collaborative research projects.
At present the Health Services Research Center is focussing its work on behavioral and observational research. Public health is a core theme. The other clincial streams the Center will focus on are:
- mental health
- women’s health
- heart health
The methodological themes the Center is prioritizing are:
- implementation science and sustainability
- epidemiology and healthcare economics
- evidence synthesis
In early 2015 the Center established the Health Services Research Network (HSRN). It now has around 600 members from various disciplines. The Network aims to provide members with opportunities to meet with other researchers, to enable them to join a theme group to explore research interests and to learn about HSR methodologies. In addition it will also provide opportunities for mentoring. The Center is also working towards setting up a Cochrane outpost for the benefit of its network members.
In April 2015 the Center announced the launch of the Health Services Research Investigator Initiated Grant (HSR-IIGS) Scheme. This program is a new initiative that aims to recognize the importance of HSR in delivering the Qatar National Health Strategy. The aim of this initiative is to fund rigorous, relevant research that will generate evidence on how to enhance health care in Qatar.
The Center has been supported in its work by members from its Steering Group who provide oversight, leadership and an accountabilty framework. The Steering Group members belong to the AHS partner organizations.
Learning objectivesThe primary intention behind organizing this symposium is to encourage participants to reflect on how they can apply various health services research methodologies to their research and for participants to appreciate that appropriate use of certain techniques can change patient behavior which in turn can lead to an improvement in patient health.
