'Communicative' rationality in health policy implementation of national public health guidelines in India.

In this paper we reflect on interpretations of rationality as the basis for strategic change in health policy. Specifically we focus on the basis of “policy recommendations” emerging from research on health systems, drawing from our experience of conducting a research study exploring gaps in the implementation of national public health guidelines for HIV testing, in 5 cities of India. We explore interpretations of our research findings by applying the construct of ‘communicative’ rationality – a type of rationality that is embedded in the social character of policy and embraces multiple forms of knowledge. We conclude by identifying strategic recommendations for strengthening the implementation of public health policy guidelines in India based on principles of communicative rationality.