Operationalising health systems thinking: a pathway to high effective coverage.

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Health Systems Strengthening
• Public Health Interventions

Background:

• Global health initiatives require effective measurement of health interventions and implementation strength.
• Existing health system models inadequately capture dynamic, multi-level relationships between system components.
• Save the Children developed the Pathway to High Effective Coverage (Pathway) framework for strategic planning and M&E.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the Pathway to High Effective Coverage as a health systems thinking framework.
• To describe its application in strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
• To demonstrate its utility in achieving high effective coverage and health impact.

Main Methods:

• Iterative development and refinement of the Pathway framework.
• Literature review and consultations with global health experts.
• Testing and application of the framework in real-world health programs.

Main Results:

• The Pathway is a robust framework analyzing system, policy, and delivery factors.
• It comprises six key components: national readiness, system structures, management capacity, implementation strength, effective coverage, and impact.
• Applications demonstrated its utility in strategic planning, progress monitoring, and evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The Pathway offers a cohesive framework for assessing and coordinating actions to improve health coverage and impact.
• Its application facilitates comprehensive monitoring and evaluation.
• The framework shows potential adaptability for diverse health areas and sectors.