Understanding the role of context in health policy implementation: a qualitative study of factors influencing traditional medicine integration in the Indian public healthcare system.

Abstract

India's public health system aims to foster pluralism by integrating AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) with mainstream biomedical care. This policy change provides an opportunity to explore the complexity of health system innovation, addressing the relationship between biomedicine and complementary or alternative medicine. Implementing health policy depends on local, societal, and political contexts that shape intervention in practice. This qualitative case study explores contextual features that have influenced AYUSH integration and examines the extent to which practitioners are able to exercise agency in these contexts. Health system stakeholders were interviewed (n = 37) and integration activities observed. The analysis identifies contextual factors in health administration, health facilities, community, and wider society which influence the integration process. In the administrative and facility spheres, pre-existing administrative measures, resource and capacity deficits limit access to AYUSH medicines and opportunities to build relationships between biomedical and AYUSH doctors. At the community and society levels, rural AYUSH acceptance facilitates integration into formal healthcare, while professional organisations and media support integrative processes by holding health services accountable. The findings also demonstrate how, amid these contextual influences, AYUSH doctors navigate the health system hierarchies, despite issues with system knowledge against a background of medical dominance.