Is Knowledge of Policy Key to Its Implementation?The Legal Approach to Promoting the Rights toHealth of the Elderly in the Philippines

The general aim of the study is to seek evidence on the role of knowledge in implementing a health policy on aging. In specific terms, it sought evidence on the actual translation of the law on senior citizens’ access to health benefits and social services. To do so, a combination of policy analysis, archival research, and key informant interviews with local executives of selected respective government units were conducted. Overall findings strongly suggest low compliance with health policy implementation efforts attributable to limited knowledge among local government unit heads of the overarching legal framework relative to other agencies. Validation of the health policy review results and other findings was done through a series of results presentations and discussions with members of the inter-agency technical working group created for this project. The study findings were incorporated into the proposed law as amendments, notably to induce compliance through competency and capacity-building of local executives.