Conceptual analysis of health systems resilience: A scoping review

Publication date: Available online 30 April 2019Source: Social Science & MedicineAuthor(s): C. Pailliard Turenne, L. Gautier, S. Degroote, E. Guillard, F. Chabrol, V. RiddeAbstractSystem resilience has long been an area of study, and the term has become increasingly used across different sectors. Studies on resilience in health systems are more recent, multiplying particularly since the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for national governments to increase the resilience of their health systems. Concepts help define research objects and guide the analysis. Yet to be useful, the concepts need to be clear and precise.We aimed to improve the conceptual understanding of health systems resilience by conducting a scoping review to describe current knowledge in this area. We searched for literature in 10 databases, and analyzed data using a list of themes. We evaluated the clarity and the precision of the concept of health systems resilience using Daigneault & Jacob's three dimensions of a concept: term, sense, and referent.Of the 1 091 documents initially identified, 45 met the inclusion criteria. Term: multiple terms are used, switching from one to the other to speak about the same subject. Sense: there is no consensus yet on a unique definition. Referent: the magnitude and nature of events that resilient health systems face differ with context, covering a broad range of situations from sudden crisis to everyday challenges.The lack of c...
Source: Social Science and Medicine - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research