How the research system can respond to the challenges
The first requirement to mounting a meaningful response to the challenges facing health services today is to have high quality research into the health care system. With this in mind, the Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Health and the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (Stakes) organised an exploratory workshop on 20‒22 August 2001 where top researchers from Finland, three guest speakers from other countries, and representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, hospital districts and the Academy of Finland got together to discuss the priorities of health services research, the needs for and benefits of international collaboration as well as the current status and standard of research. One of the workshop’s recommendations was that a research programme be launched to address the challenges facing the health care sector.
Health services research is a multidisciplinary exercise. Health services researchers and the methods they use may come from backgrounds in medicine, epidemiology and demographics, social and behavioural sciences, nursing science, economics, administration and political science. Research in health services is undertaken at several universities around the country, at the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, and to some extent in other government research institutes. Given its multidisciplinary nature, health services research offers various different avenues for researcher training and research careers. The workshop recommended that a study/an inquiry be conducted to establish the need for a graduate school in the field of health services research.
The key problem for health services research is the shortage and uncertainty of funding. It is difficult to get long-term projects off the ground, particularly more ambitious, joint international ventures. Other areas where there is scope for improvement include networking among researchers and the multidisciplinarity of individual projects. In spite of these problems and shortcomings, the research community is well placed to carry out the proposed research programme. The programme would also give other than traditional health service researchers an opportunity to launch their own projects.