Here is a new paper in Health Policy and Planning, relevant to our ongoing discussions on evidence-informed policy making. A number of HIFA initiatives have contributed to qualitative research projects, for example mHealth Innovate [ www.hifa.org/projects/mhealth-innovate-what-can-we-learn-health-workers-... ] and SUPPORT-SYSTEMS [ www.hifa.org/projects/support-systems-how-can-decision-making-processes-... ], and I invite HIFA members to comment on this latest paper. hifa.org/projects
CITATION: Expert stakeholders on the role of qualitative research in World Health Organisation guidelines
Melissa Taylor , Paul Garner , Sandy Oliver , Nicola Desmond Author Notes
Health Policy and Planning, czaf105, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czaf105
Published: 11 February 2026
https://academic.oup.com/heapol/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapol/czaf1...
ABSTRACT
Qualitative research findings are sometimes used in guideline development, but usually in an ad hoc manner. We sought to explore how qualitative research could contribute to guideline development, identify examples of qualitative research being used to inform guideline development, and gather suggestions for how qualitative research might be incorporated more systematically in guideline development. Using a topic guide, in 2022–24, we interviewed experts who had participated in World Health Organization (WHO) guideline development. We used purposeful sampling, including qualitative researchers, guideline developers, guideline panel members, and implementation researchers. We interviewed 16 participants, and identified three themes: (i) respondents endorsed using qualitative research findings in developing WHO guidelines, and highlighted examples where this approach had been useful; (ii) recommendation questions in the guideline process are built on clinical decision-making, which can sometimes be too detached from social contexts for broader health problems; (iii) using qualitative research findings to help delineate context has a greater potential role in guidelines. We interpret these findings to indicate that qualitative research could be used more systematically, particularly to inform a broader framing of a health problem, or later in recommendations, to tailor to particular contexts.
KEY MESSAGES
Despite recognizing the value of qualitative research, stakeholders agreed there is still potential for more systematic use of qualitative research in WHO guideline development
Clinical guidelines are often framed simplistically. For some questions, this may overlook the broader social context.
One value of qualitative research is related to ‘contextual information’ but exactly how this is achieved has not been delineated.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org