{"title":"Essential core competencies for health policy graduates: a multi-method consensus type study.","authors":"Leila Doshmangir, Minoo Alipouri Sakha, Hakimeh Mostafavi, Neda Kabiri, Saeideh Ghaffarifar, Amirhossein Takian","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01221-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12961-024-01221-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In light of the multi-faceted challenges confronting health systems worldwide and the imperative to advance towards development goals, the contribution of health policy graduates is of paramount importance, facilitating the attainment of health and well-being objectives. This paper delineates a set of core skills and competencies that are requisite for health policy graduates, with the objective of preparing these graduates for a spectrum of future roles, including both academic and non-academic positions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was conducted in three phases: a scoping review, qualitative interviews and the validation of identified competencies through brainstorming with experts. In the initial phase, a scoping review was conducted on the databases. The following databases were searched: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar search engine. Additionally, the WebPages of universities offering health policy programmes were manually searched. In the second phase, 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, graduates and distinguished academics from Iran and other countries. These interviews were conducted in person or via email. In the third phase, the draft version of the competencies and their associated learning objectives, derived from the preceding stages, was subjected to independent review by an expert panel and subsequently discussed. In light of the expert panel's findings, the authors undertook a subsequent revision of the list, leading to the finalization of the core competencies through a process of consensus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the scoping review phase, the analysis included six studies and nine university curricula. The results of the scoping review could be classified into five domains: health system understanding, health policy research, knowledge translation, multidisciplinary work and knowledge of public health. In the second phase, six core competencies were extracted from the interviews and combined with the results of the first phase, which were then discussed by the expert panel at the third phase. The final five core competencies, derived from the brainstorming session and presented in no particular order, encompass health policy research, policy analysis, educational competencies, decision-making and multidisciplinary work.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>It is essential that the curriculum is appropriate and contextually tailored, as this is crucial to foster multi-dimensional competencies that complement the specific disciplines of future health policy scholars. These scholars must possess the ability to genuinely serve their health systems towards achieving health-system goals and sustainable development.</p>","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"136"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11443647/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142345183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessment of the compliance with minimum quality standards by public primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria.","authors":"Sidney Sampson, Laila Umar, Chisom Obi-Jeff, Folake Oni, Oluwafisayo Ayodeji, Hilda Ebinim, Ejemai Eboreime, Oluomachukwu Omeje, Otobo Ujah, Toluwani Oluwatola, Faisal Shuaib, Olugbemisola Samuel, Sunday Nto, Hilary Okagbue","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01223-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12961-024-01223-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 relies on the delivery of quality healthcare services through effective primary healthcare (PHC) systems. This necessitates robust infrastructure, adequately skilled health workers and the availability of essential medicines and commodities. Despite the critical role of minimum standards in benchmarking PHC quality, no global consensus on these standards exists. Nigeria has established minimum standards to enhance healthcare accessibility and quality, including the Revised Ward Health System Strategy (RWHSS) by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). This paper outlines the evolution of PHC minimum standards in Nigeria, evaluates compliance with RWHSS standards across all public PHC facilities, and examines the implications for ongoing PHC revitalization efforts. The study used a cross-sectional descriptive design to assess compliance across 25 736 public PHC facilities in Nigeria. Data collection involved a national survey using a standardized assessment tool focussing on infrastructure, staffing, essential medicines and service delivery. Compliance with RWHSS minimum standards was found to be below 50% across all facilities, with median compliance scores of 40.7%. Outreach posts had a median compliance of 32.6%, level 1 facilities 31.5% and level 2+ facilities 50.9%. Key findings revealed major gaps in health infrastructure, human resources and availability of essential medicines and equipment. Compliance varied regionally, with the North-west showing the highest number of facilities but varied performance across standards. The lessons learned underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions and resource allocation to address the identified deficiencies. This study highlights the critical need for regular, comprehensive compliance assessments to guide policy-makers in identifying gaps and strengthening PHC systems in Nigeria. Recommendations include enhancing monitoring mechanisms, improving resource distribution and focussing on infrastructure and human resource development to meet UHC and SDG targets. Addressing these gaps is essential for advancing Nigeria's healthcare system and ensuring equitable, quality care for all.</p>","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"133"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11440655/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142345182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Topic identification and content analysis of internet medical policies under the background of Healthy China 2030.","authors":"Guoping Wu, Hao Ning, Youshu Yuan, Junbai Chen, Guoxiang Li, Shuang Liu, Zhiwei Wang","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01226-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12961-024-01226-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to analyse the content of internet medical policies, grasp the inherent laws of the development of internet medical policies and provide references for improving the policy system.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>On the basis of web crawler technology, 436 internet medical policies issued by the central and local governments after the Healthy China Strategy was proposed were collected. The BERTopic model was used to extract topics, and a comprehensive analysis of China's internet medical policy texts was conducted through the analysis of topic content, topic hierarchy and topic clusters.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 27 topics were identified in China's internet medical policies, mainly focussing on five topic clusters: medical service regulation, elderly nursing and children's healthcare using traditional Chinese medicine, user safety guarantees, health education and communication and infectious disease treatment and recovery guidance.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Different topic contents play a role in promoting the comprehensive and standardized development of internet medical services. However, there is still room for further improvement in policy integrity, consideration of multiple types of users, and implementation effectiveness. Continuous efforts are needed to optimize the effectiveness of policies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"132"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11440693/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142345185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert Heggie, Kathleen Boyd, Hanin Kamaruzaman, Olivia Wu
{"title":"What methods are currently available for incorporating implementation considerations within the economic evaluation of health technologies? A scoping review.","authors":"Robert Heggie, Kathleen Boyd, Hanin Kamaruzaman, Olivia Wu","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01220-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12961-024-01220-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>When clinically effective, cost-effective health interventions are not fully implemented in clinical practice, population health suffers. Economic factors are among the most commonly cited reasons for suboptimal implementation. Despite this, implementation and economic evaluation are not routinely performed in conjunction with one another. This review sought to identify and describe what methods are available for researchers to incorporate implementation within economic evaluation, how these methods differ, when they should be used, and where gaps remain.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a scoping review using systematic methods. A pearl-growing approach was used to identify studies. References and citations were identified using Web of Science and Scopus. We included for review any study that contained terms relating to economic evaluation and a series of implementation-related terms in the title or abstract. The search was conducted and validated using two independent researchers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our review identified 42 unique studies that included a methodology for combining implementation and economic evaluation. The methods identified could be categorized into four broad themes: (i) policy cost-effectiveness approach (11 studies), (ii) value of information and value of implementation approach (16 studies), (iii) mixed methods approach (6 studies), and (iv) costing approach (9 studies). We identified a trend over time from methods that adopted the policy cost-effectiveness approach to methods that considered the trade-off between the value of information and value of implementation. More recently, mixed methods approaches to incorporate economic evaluation and implementation have been developed, alongside methods to define, measure and cost individual components of the implementation process for use in economic evaluation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our review identified a range of methods currently available for researchers considering implementation alongside economic evaluation. There is no single method or tool that can incorporate all the relevant issues to fully incorporate implementation within an economic evaluation. Instead, there are a suite of tools available, each of which can be used to answer a specific question relating to implementation. Researchers, reimbursement agencies and national and local decision-makers need to consider how best to utilize these tools to improve implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"134"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11441006/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142345186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Keitly Mensah, Isabel Mosquera, Anna Tisler, Anneli Uusküla, João Firmino-Machado, Nuno Lunet, Florian Nicula, Diana Tăut, Adriana Baban, Partha Basu
{"title":"Correction: Development and pilot implementation of a novel protocol to assess capacity and readiness of health systems to adopt HPV detection-based cervical cancer screening in Europe.","authors":"Keitly Mensah, Isabel Mosquera, Anna Tisler, Anneli Uusküla, João Firmino-Machado, Nuno Lunet, Florian Nicula, Diana Tăut, Adriana Baban, Partha Basu","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01215-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01215-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"130"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11414320/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142284462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A transformative solution to build effective, transparent, and resilient \"fit-for-purpose\" national health research ethics systems.","authors":"Manju Rani, Neha Chawla, Nitya Wadhwa, Roli Mathur, Timothy Jinks, Priyanka Das, Suman Rijal","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01219-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01219-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current research ethics review systems are composed of isolated institutional Research Ethics Committees (RECs) that develop their own standard operating procedures (SOPs), templates and so on, with low adoption of digital solutions to manage submission and review processes. This poses several challenges, such as delays, higher costs, and hindering multi-site research. We propose an online national research ethics platform that all RECs can use, with common review processes and documentation requirements following national policy. The system will scale up adoption of digital solutions to all RECs. It will reduce administrative burden and harmonize review procedures. It will also obviate the need for separate and isolated interventions such as national REC registries or clinical trial registries, as these can be generated as transactional outputs of the system. The harmonized procedures and possibility of single submission will facilitate multi-site research. Sharing of resources and expertise among RECs on the platform will enhance resilience. An e-EC system developed in India and a Regional Health research portal developed by the WHO South-East Asia office offer proof of concepts to demonstrate the feasibility of developing and using such systems. The proposed solution is ambitious but feasible. Developing the proposed system will be a vital cost-effective investment in national health infrastructure to strengthen the research ecosystem and accelerate delivery of improved healthcare innovations by reducing unnecessary delays in conducting research. To maximize benefits, concurrent efforts are needed to build researchers' capacity and enhance the quality and efficiency of human reviews of the research proposals by REC.</p>","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"22 1","pages":"131"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11414025/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142284461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shilpa John, Sudha Ramani, Syed Mohd Abbas, Sumit Kane, Dorothy Lall, Prashanth N. Srinivas, Devaki Nambiar, Bruno Marchal, Sara Van Belle, Rajeev Sadanandan, Narayanan Devadasan
{"title":"Building Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) capacity in India: Reflections from the India HPSR fellowship program (2020–2023)","authors":"Shilpa John, Sudha Ramani, Syed Mohd Abbas, Sumit Kane, Dorothy Lall, Prashanth N. Srinivas, Devaki Nambiar, Bruno Marchal, Sara Van Belle, Rajeev Sadanandan, Narayanan Devadasan","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01218-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01218-3","url":null,"abstract":"Building capacity for Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is critical for advancing the field in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The India HPSR fellowship program is a home-grown capacity-building initiative, anchored at the Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP), New Delhi, and developed in collaboration with a network of institutes in India and abroad. In this practice-oriented commentary, we provide an overview of the fellowship program and critically reflect upon the learnings from working with three cohorts of fellows between 2020 and 2023. This commentary draws on routine program documentation (guidelines, faculty meeting reports, minutes of meetings of curricula and course development) as well as the perspectives of faculty and program managers associated with the fellowship. We have had several important learnings in the initial years of program implementation. One, it is important to iteratively modify globally available curricula and pedagogies on HPSR to suit country-specific requirements and include a strong component of ‘unlearning’ in such fellowships. Secondly, the goals of such fellowship programs need to be designed with country-specific contextual realities in mind. For instance, should publication of fellows’ work be an intended goal, then contextual deterrents to publication such as article processing fees, language barriers and work-related obligations of faculty and participants need to be addressed. Furthermore, to improve the policy translation of fellows’ work, such programs need to make broader efforts to strengthen research–policy–practice interfaces. Lastly, fellowship programs are cost-intensive, and outputs from them, such as papers or policy translation, are less immediate and less visible to donors. In the absence of these outputs, consistent funding can be a roadblock to sustaining these fellowships in LMICs. The experience of our fellowship program suggests that LMIC-led capacity-building initiatives on HPSR have the potential to influence changes in health systems and build the capacity of researchers to generate evidence for policy-making. The sharing of resources and teaching material through the fellowship can enable learning for all institutions involved. Furthermore, such initiatives can serve as a launchpad for the creation of regional and international HPSR communities of practice, with a focus on LMICs, thereby challenging epistemic injustice in teaching and learning HPSR.","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142265682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic experiences on attitudes towards vaccinations: on the social, cultural and political determinants of preferred vaccination organization models in Poland","authors":"Piotr Żuk, Paweł Żuk","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01214-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01214-7","url":null,"abstract":"The article describes attitudes towards vaccinations in Poland in relation to issues such as voluntary versus compulsory vaccinations, the method of financing vaccinations, the method of organizing and carrying out vaccinations, the cognitive and educational aspect of vaccines (how to obtain knowledge about vaccines) and the preferred model of work and research on new vaccines. Taking into account these issues, the authors have created four ideal models of preferred vaccination policies: (a) the market model; (b) the state model; (c) the vaccine hesitancy model; and (d) the civic–social model. This perspective makes it possible to better understand and learn about the various motives behind the attitudes of anti-vaccination movements, as well as to notice cracks and divisions among vaccination supporters and their attitudes towards the financing and organization of vaccinations. The study was carried out using the CATI method on a representative random-quota sample of Polish society of 1000 people aged 18 and over. The study took age, sex, education and the size of the place of residence into account. Additionally, in the Socio-demographic factors influencing attitudes towards vaccination practices in Poland section, we used the chi-squared test and regression analysis of factors influencing vaccination practices in Poland. PASW Statistics 18 (a version of SPSS) software was used for statistical analysis. Significant correlations were demonstrated at a significance level of 0.05% Pearson. This article has shown that attitudes towards vaccinations are embedded in broader divisions and orientations related to the vision of the social order: the role of the state, the organization of healthcare and payments for vaccinations and medical services, as well as preferred ways of knowledge production in society and work on new vaccines. The political sympathies and the age of the respondents were the most important variables influencing vaccination behaviour. The education of the respondents was less important. A few years after the peak of the pandemic, the scope of anti-vaccination attitudes in Polish society ranges from 20% of the population (dogmatic anti-vaxxers) to 30% (vaccine hesitancy occurring depending on attitudes towards vaccinations).","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142269715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Qualitative assessment of evidence-informed adolescent mental health policymaking in India: insights from project SAMA","authors":"Alice Ivory, Mutharaju Arelingaiah, Navaneetham Janardhana, Poornima Bhola, Siobhan Hugh-Jones, Tolib Mirzoev","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01184-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01184-w","url":null,"abstract":"The importance of evidence-informed health policymaking is widely recognized. However, many low- and middle-income countries lack evidence-informed mental health policies due to insufficient data, stigma or lack of resources. Various policies address adolescent mental health in India, but published knowledge on their evidence-informed nature is limited. In this paper, we report results of our analysis of the role of evidence in adolescent mental health policymaking in India. This paper reports findings from the document analysis of key policy documentation (n = 10) and in-depth interviews with policy actors including policymakers, researchers, practitioners and intermediaries (n = 13). Framework analysis was used, informed by the components of a conceptual framework adapted from the literature: actors, policy and evidence processes, nature of evidence itself and contextual influences. Results show that adolescent mental health policies in India were generally evidence-informed, with more key evidence becoming generally available from 2010 onwards. Both formal and informal evidence informed mental health policies, particularly agenda-setting and policy development. Mental health policymaking in India is deemed important yet relatively neglected due to competing policy priorities and structural barriers such as stigma. Use of evidence in mental health policymaking reflected differing values, interests, relative powers and ideologies of policy actors. Involvement of government officials in evidence generation often resulted in successful evidence uptake in policy decisions. Policy actors often favoured formal and quantitative evidence, with a tendency to accept global evidence that aligns with personal values. There is a need to ensure a balanced and complementary combination of formal and informal evidence for policy decisions. Evidence generation, dissemination and use for policy processes should recognize evidence preferences by key stakeholders, while prioritizing locally available evidence where possible. To help this, a balanced involvement of policy actors can ensure complementary perspectives in evidence production and policy agendas. This continued generation and promotion of evidence can also help reduce societal stigma around mental health and promote mental health as a key policy priority.","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142269714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lene Rasmussen, Maj Britt Dahl Nielsen, Anne Helene Garde, Jesper Kristiansen
{"title":"Exploring line managers’ perspectives on using data in managing sickness absence: a qualitative study","authors":"Lene Rasmussen, Maj Britt Dahl Nielsen, Anne Helene Garde, Jesper Kristiansen","doi":"10.1186/s12961-024-01224-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01224-5","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to explore line managers’ perspectives on data as tool in the management of sickness absence in public sector workplaces in Denmark. The study is a qualitative study based on 19 semi-structured interviews with line managers from four public sector workplaces characterized by high levels of sickness absence or poor work environment. The interviews were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. The findings show that line managers primarily use data to identify employees at risk of sickness absence. The experiences highlighted related to how and when data are perceived as a valuable tool by the line managers, and that nuances in the data, accessibility of the data and how data are presented are important factors to ensure appropriate follow-up on sickness absence. The findings suggest that for line managers to use data to manage sickness absence appropriately, the data must be easily accessible, simple for line managers to understand and provide line managers with a sufficient overview of sickness absence in their work units. It is also important to consider other factors affecting sickness absence, such as the work environment, when aiming to reduce sickness absence.","PeriodicalId":12870,"journal":{"name":"Health Research Policy and Systems","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142265683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}