Primary health care (PHC) is recognized as the most inclusive, equitable, and cost-effective approach to enhancing people’s health and well-being, while facilitating universal access to integrated health services, positioning it as the “engine” for driving progress towards Universal Health Coverage.

Integration is a key enabler for people-centered PHC, and can be defined and approached in numerous ways depending on contextual factors and needs. As countries look towards 2030 health goals and health system leaders consider how to strategically advance integrated systems and services, additional practical guidance is needed for how to prepare, design, implement, and monitor integration.

This refreshed primer aims to equip policymakers, health system planners, implementers, advocates, and donors with pragmatic guidance, learnings, and tools as they advance integrated systems and services to strengthen PHC.

Building from a literature review and learnings from PATH’s experience advancing integrated services and systems across varied contexts, this primer offers practical considerations and resources for approaching integration, including:

• an orientation and framework for approaching the type (“what”) and degree (“how”) of integration, including context-specific examples of operationalizing integration within the domains of service delivery, organizational and professional networks, and health systems.
• guiding principles to consider during planning and implementation.
• a shortlist of tools and resources to assess readiness and adoption of an integrated model, including the Readiness Assessment and Prioritization for Integration Decisions (RAPID) tool.
• approaches for measuring integration aligned with contextual and integration priorities—emphasizing coverage, quality, and cost—with illustrative indicators.
• country spotlights featuring applied integration experience in Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Senegal, Ukraine, and Vietnam.