KEYSTONE is a collective initiative of several Indian health policy and systems research (HPSR) organizations to strengthen national capacity in HPSR towards addressing critical needs of health systems and policy development. KEYSTONE is convened by the Public Health Foundation of India in its role as Nodal Institute of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR). The KEYSTONE organizing group and course faculty consists of experienced HPSR researchers from: the Indian Institute of Health Management Research Jaipur, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru, Jawaharlal Nehru University, the National Health Systems Resource Centre, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, the Public Health Foundation of India, the Public Health Resource Network, the Society for Community Health Awareness, Research and Action, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai.
The KEYSTONE short course aims to develop individual capacities and channelize latent capacities of participants, for investigating and addressing real-world problems of health systems and policy, through rigorous immersion in current HPSR approaches, frameworks and methodologies. The ultimate goal of KEYSTONE is to activate a nationwide community of health policy and systems researchers, towards addressing critical needs of health systems and policy development in various parts of the country.
The inaugural KEYSTONE short course was held on 23rd February to 5th March 2015 in Delhi. Twenty competitive fellowships were offered to mid-career researchers and practitioners from government, NGOs, and universities identified through a rigorous selection process.
KEYSTONE faculty were drawn from several partner institutions and had worked together to develop the unique design and content of the KEYSTONE course. The course introduced current frameworks to understand health systems and complexity, and the spectrum of approaches that make up the field of HPSR. The fellows were familiarized with different approaches in HPSR, engaged in critical analysis of HPSR literature and guided through the development of an individual research plan.