scholarly journals Resilience Testing of Health Systems: How Can It Be Done?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4742
Author(s):  
Heather L. Rogers ◽  
Pedro Pita Barros ◽  
Jan De Maeseneer ◽  
Lasse Lehtonen ◽  
Christos Lionis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Phase 0 ◽  
Five Phases ◽  
Quantitative Indicators

The resilience of health systems has received considerable attention as of late, yet little is known about what a resilience test might look like. We develop a resilience test concept and methodology. We describe key components of a toolkit and a 5-phased approach to implementation of resilience testing that can be adapted to individual health systems. We develop a methodology for a test that is balanced in terms of standardization and system-specific characteristics/needs. We specify how to work with diverse stakeholders from the health ecosystem via participatory processes to assess and identify recommendations for health system strengthening. The proposed resilience test toolkit consists of “what if” adverse scenarios, a menu of health system performance elements and indicators based on an input-output-outcomes framework, a discussion guide for each adverse scenario, and a traffic light scorecard template. The five phases of implementation include Phase 0, a preparatory phase to adapt the toolkit materials; Phase 1: facilitated discussion groups with stakeholders regarding the adverse scenarios; Phase 2: supplemental data collection of relevant quantitative indicators; Phase 3: summarization of results; Phase 4: action planning and health system transformation. The toolkit and 5-phased approach can support countries to test resilience of health systems, and provides a concrete roadmap to its implementation.

scholarly journals 22.F. Workshop: What makes for resilient health systems? Evidence from the State of Health in the EU country profiles

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The State ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
New Work ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Commission's State of Health in the EU (SoHEU) initiative aims to provide factual, comparative data and insights into health and health systems in EU countries. The resulting Country Health Profiles, published every two years (current editions: November 2019) are the joint work of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the OECD, in cooperation with the European Commission. They are designed to support the efforts of Member States in their evidence-based policy making and to contribute to health care systems' strengthening. In addition to short syntheses of population health status, determinants of health and the organisation of the health system, the Country Profiles provide an assessment of the health system, looking at its effectiveness, accessibility and resilience. The idea of resilient health systems has been gaining traction among policy makers. The framework developed for the Country Profiles template sets out three dimensions and associated policy strategies and indicators as building blocks for assessing resilience. The framework adopts a broader definition of resilience, covering the ability to respond to extreme shocks as well as measures to address more predictable and chronic health system strains, such as population ageing or multimorbidity. However, the current framework predates the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic as well as new work on resilience being done by the SoHEU project partners. This workshop aims to present resilience-enhancing strategies and challenges to a wide audience and to explore how using the evidence from the Country Profiles can contribute to strengthening health systems and improving their performance. A brief introduction on the SoHEU initiative will be followed by the main presentation on the analytical framework on resilience used for the Country Profiles. Along with country examples, we will present the wider results of an audit of the most common health system resilience strategies and challenges emerging from the 30 Country Profiles in 2019. A roundtable discussion will follow, incorporating audience contributions online. The Panel will discuss the results on resilience actions from the 2019 Country Profiles evidence, including: Why is resilience important as a practical objective and how is it related to health system strengthening and performance? How can countries use their resilience-related findings to steer national reform efforts? In addition, panellists will outline how lessons learned from country responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and new work on resilience by the Observatory (resilience policy briefs), OECD (2020 Health at a Glance) and the EC (Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment (HSPA) Report on Resilience) can feed in and improve the resilience framework that will be used in the 2021 Country Profiles. Key messages Knowing what makes health systems resilient can improve their performance and ability to meet the current and future needs of their populations. The State of Health in the EU country profiles generate EU-wide evidence on the common resilience challenges facing countries’ health systems and the strategies being employed to address them.

Harnessing instability as an opportunity for health system strengthening: A review of health system resilience

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Chamberland-Rowe ◽  
François Chiocchio ◽  
Ivy Lynn Bourgeault
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Operational Model ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
System Resilience

In recent years, resilience has emerged as a prominent topic in global health systems discourse as a result of the increasing variety and volume of sources of instability inflicting strain on systems. In line with this study’s intent to bring together existing literature on health system resilience as a means to understand the process through which systems achieve resilience, a review of academic literature related to health system resilience was conducted. Emerging from this review is an operational model of resilience that builds on existing health systems frameworks. The model highlights health system resilience as a process through which leaders in all sectors need to be mobilized in order to harness instability as an opportunity for health system strengthening rather than a threat to the system’s sustainability and integrity.

scholarly journals The “Sustainability Doctrine” in Donor-Driven Maternal Health Programs in Tanzania

2022 ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
Meredith G. Marten
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Newborn Care ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Respectful Maternity Care ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Sustainable Health

AbstractStrengthening health systems to provide equitable, sustainable health care has been identified as essential for improving maternal and reproductive health. Many donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have contributed to undermining health system strengthening, however, through adhering to what Swidler and Watkins call the “sustainability doctrine,” policies that prioritize time-limited, targeted interventions best suited for short-term funding streams, rather than the long-term needs of local populations. This chapter presents ethnographic data from semi-structured and key informant interviews with 16 policymakers and NGO directors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 2011 to 2012. I illustrate how sustainability doctrine policies were put into practice, and how they have persisted, despite their shortcomings, using examples of donor-prioritized maternal healthcare initiatives in Tanzania rolled-out several years apart: prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC) programs in the late 2000s, and more recent efforts to implement respectful maternity care (RMC) programs. I focus on several issues informants identified as crippling efforts to build strong health systems, particularly the internal brain drain of healthcare workers from the public sector to higher-paying NGO jobs, and the prioritization of types of programs donors believed could be sustained after the funding period ended, specifically trainings and workshops. I describe how despite these issues, international organizations still design and implement less effective programs that often fail to account for local circumstances in their efforts to solve some of the more intractable health issues facing Tanzania today, in particular, the country’s stagnating maternal mortality rate. In this chapter, I argue that practices promoted and implemented under the guise of “sustainability” in policy papers and reports generated by donors paradoxically contribute to health system precarity in Tanzania.

scholarly journals Strengthening mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries: recommendations from the Emerald programme

BJPsych Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Semrau ◽  
Atalay Alem ◽  
Jose L. Ayuso-Mateos ◽  
Dan Chisholm ◽  
Oye Gureje ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Mental Health Systems ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

BackgroundThere is a large treatment gap for mental, neurological or substance use (MNS) disorders. The ‘Emerging mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)’ (Emerald) research programme attempted to identify strategies to work towards reducing this gap through the strengthening of mental health systems.AimsTo provide a set of proposed recommendations for mental health system strengthening in LMICs.MethodThe Emerald programme was implemented in six LMICs in Africa and Asia (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda) over a 5-year period (2012–2017), and aimed to improve mental health outcomes in the six countries by building capacity and generating evidence to enhance health system strengthening.ResultsThe proposed recommendations align closely with the World Health Organization's key health system strengthening ‘building blocks’ of governance, financing, human resource development, service provision and information systems; knowledge transfer is included as an additional cross-cutting component. Specific recommendations are made in the paper for each of these building blocks based on the body of data that were collected and analysed during Emerald.ConclusionsThese recommendations are relevant not only to the six countries in which their evidential basis was generated, but to other LMICs as well; they may also be generalisable to other non-communicable diseases beyond MNS disorders.Declaration of interestNone.

scholarly journals How Clinical Research Can Contribute to Strengthening Health Systems in Low Resource Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Florent Mbo ◽  
Wilfried Mutombo ◽  
Digas Ngolo ◽  
Patrice Kabangu ◽  
Olaf Valverde Mordt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Low Resource

Clinical research on neglected tropical diseases is a challenge in low-resource countries, and the contribution of clinical and operational research to health system strengthening is poorly documented. Developing new, simple, safe, and effective treatments may improve the effectiveness of health systems, and conducting research directly in health structures may have an additional impact. This study describes the process of conducting clinical trials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in compliance with international standards, and the role of the trials in strengthening health system functions, including governance, human resources, health information, provision of care, and the equipping of health services with the necessary supplies and infrastructure. We conclude that conducting clinical trials in endemic areas has not only reinforced and supported the aim of conducting high-level clinical research in endemic countries, but has also brought lasting benefits to researchers, staff, and hospitals, as well as to broader health systems, which have positive knock-on effect on patients outside of the clinical trials and their communities. Sustainability, however, remains a challenge in an underfunded health system, especially with respect to specialized equipment. Clinical research in most of sub-Saharan Africa is highly dependent on international input and external technical support; there are areas of weaknesses in trial design and documentation, as well as in data management and analysis. Financing remains a critical issue, as African investigators have difficulties in directly accessing sources of international research funding.

scholarly journals Prevention of Congenital Transmission of Malaria in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Challenges and Implications for Health System Strengthening

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayode O. Osungbade ◽  
Olubunmi O. Oladunjoye
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Congenital Transmission ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Congenital Malaria

Objectives. Review of burden of congenital transmission of malaria, challenges of preventive measures, and implications for health system strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa.Methods. Literature from Pubmed (MEDLINE), Biomed central, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Database were reviewed.Results. The prevalence of congenital malaria in sub-Saharan Africa ranges from 0 to 23%. Diagnosis and existing preventive measures are constantly hindered by weak health systems and sociocultural issues. WHO strategic framework for prevention: intermittent preventive therapy (IPT), insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and case management of malaria illness and anaemia remain highly promising; though, specific interventions are required to strengthen the health systems in order to improve the effectiveness of these measures.Conclusion. Congenital malaria remains a public health burden in sub-Saharan Africa. Overcoming the challenges of the preventive measures hinges on the ability of national governments and development partners in responding to the weak health systems.

Considering Health-Systems Constraints in Economic Evaluation in Low- and Middle-Income Settings

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Vassall ◽  
Fiammetta Bozzani ◽  
Kara Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Evaluation ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
System Thinking ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
Low And Middle Income

In order to secure effective service access, coverage, and impact, it is increasingly recognized that the introduction of novel health technologies such as diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines may require additional investment to address the constraints under which many health systems operate. Health-system constraints include a shortage of health workers, ineffective supply chains, or inadequate information systems, or organizational constraints such as weak incentives and poor service integration. Decision makers may be faced with the question of whether to invest in a new technology, including the specific health system strengthening needed to ensure effective implementation; or they may be seeking to optimize resource allocation across a range of interventions including investment in broad health system functions or platforms. Investment in measures to address health-system constraints therefore increasingly need to undergo economic evaluation, but this poses several methodological challenges for health economists, particularly in the context of low- and middle-income countries. Designing the appropriate analysis to inform investment decisions concerning new technologies incorporating health systems investment can be broken down into several steps. First, the analysis needs to comprehensively outline the interface between the new intervention and the system through which it is to be delivered, in order to identify the relevant constraints and the measures needed to relax them. Second, the analysis needs to be rooted in a theoretical approach to appropriately characterize constraints and consider joint investment in the health system and technology. Third, the analysis needs to consider how the overarching priority- setting process influences the scope and output of the analysis informing the way in which complex evidence is used to support the decision, including how to represent and manage system wide trade-offs. Finally, there are several ways in which decision analytical models can be structured, and parameterized, in a context of data scarcity around constraints. This article draws together current approaches to health system thinking with the emerging literature on analytical approaches to integrating health-system constraints into economic evaluation to guide economists through these four issues. It aims to contribute to a more health-system-informed approach to both appraising the cost-effectiveness of new technologies and setting priorities across a range of program activities.

scholarly journals Effective methods for knowledge transfer to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries

BJPsych Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose L. Ayuso-Mateos ◽  
Maria Miret ◽  
Pilar Lopez-Garcia ◽  
Atalay Alem ◽  
Dan Chisholm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Mental Health Systems ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background The Emerald project's focus is on how to strengthen mental health systems in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda). This was done by generating evidence and capacity to enhance health system performance in delivering mental healthcare. A common problem in scaling-up interventions and strengthening mental health programmes in LMICs is how to transfer research evidence, such as the data collected in the Emerald project, into practice. Aims To describe how core elements of Emerald were implemented and aligned with the ultimate goal of strengthening mental health systems, as well as their short-term impact on practices, policies and programmes in the six partner countries. Method We focused on the involvement of policy planners, managers, patients and carers. Results Over 5 years of collaboration, the Emerald consortium has provided evidence and tools for the improvement of mental healthcare in the six LMICs involved in the project. We found that the knowledge transfer efforts had an impact on mental health service delivery and policy planning at the sites and countries involved in the project. Conclusions This approach may be valid beyond the mental health context, and may be effective for any initiative that aims at implementing evidence-based health policies for health system strengthening.

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