Understanding the resilience of health systems
Citation
Blanchet, K., Diaconu, K. and Witter, S. (2020) ‘Understanding the resilience of health systems’, in K. Bozorgmehr, B. Roberts, O. Razum, and L. Biddle (eds) Health Policy and Systems Responses to Forced Migration. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 99–117. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33812-1_6.
Abstract
Globally, displacement is now at the highest level ever recorded with 68.5 million people being forcibly displaced
due to violence, political instability or poor economic conditions. Migration towards neighbouring countries or
more distant high-income settings in Europe is creating new challenges for national health systems. This chapter
explores health systems resilience, i.e. the capacity of health systems to adapt and transform themselves in
response to challenges. We offer reflections and a new conceptual framework on resilience based on systems
thinking and complexity theories. The chapter also offers examples of migration-related challenges and resilience
responses in health systems and policies in order to illustrate the utility and relevance of the developed conceptual
framework for European and neighbouring health systems faced by population flows and conflict. Finally, we
make recommendations for a new research agenda.