Social sciences: vital to improving our understanding of health equity, policy and systems.

The author discusses the importance of social science approaches in redressing inequity in health and publication of health research in 2017. Topics covered include the need to use embedded social science in answering questions in the field of health policy and systems research (HSPR) and to integrate observations and interactions that occur between patients, providers, and policymakers. Also noted is social science's role in health systems during the Ebola virus disease outbreak in 2014-16.