If Research Is a Pillar of Health System Development, Why Only Focus on Clinical Trials?
Pratt B., Ali J. and Hyder A.A. (2016) If Research Is a Pillar of Health System Development, Why Only Focus on Clinical Trials? The American Journal of Bioethics Vol. 16, Iss. 6, 2016
The authors note that a small amount of bioethics literature supports linking health research to health system development as a matter of justice. They suggest that the field should move beyond a focus on clinical trials to look at issues such as operations research, implementation research, health systems research, and research on the social determinants of health. Unlike clinical trials, these forms of health research have the potential to contribute to health system development through both the generation of knowledge and the “infrastructure effect.” Where research infrastructure – the organisational culture, systems, and expertise that develop as a product of sustained participation in cooperative research – may function as a quality improvement lever, improving the quality of care and outcomes of all patients within an institution or region independent of their individual participation in studies.