Policy-makers require valid evidence to support time-sensitive decisions regarding the coverage, quality, efficiency, and equity of health systems. Systematic reviews and other types of evidence syntheses are increasingly employed to inform policy-making and produce guidance for health systems. However, the time and cost to produce a systematic review is often a barrier to its use in decision-making. Rapid reviews are a timely and affordable approach that can provide actionable and relevant evidence to strengthen health policy and systems.
Rapid Reviews to Strengthen Health Policy and Systems: a Practical Guide provides guidance on how to conduct rapid reviews and support their use to inform health policy and systems decisions. The guide also aims to provide practical recommendations on the conduct of rapid reviews to facilitate their use in decision-making. At the same time, key challenges in fast-tracking knowledge synthesis processes and applying them to complex issues pertaining to health policy-making and health system strengthening are described. This practical guide was developed as a tool of relevance to both the research and policy communities. It provides useful guidance to support knowledge synthesis and evidence-informed policy- and decision-making worldwide.
