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Health system resilience and health workforce capacities: Comparing health system responses during the COVID‐19 pandemic in six European countries

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  • Viola Burau
  • Michelle Falkenbach
  • Stefano Neri
  • Stephen Peckham
  • Iris Wallenburg
  • Ellen Kuhlmann

Abstract

Background The health workforce is a key component of any health system and the present crisis offers a unique opportunity to better understand its specific contribution to health system resilience. The literature acknowledges the importance of the health workforce, but there is little systematic knowledge about how the health workforce matters across different countries. Aims We aim to analyse the adaptive, absorptive and transformative capacities of the health workforce during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Europe (January‐May/June 2020), and to assess how health systems prerequisites influence these capacities. Materials and Methods We selected countries according to different types of health systems and pandemic burdens. The analysis is based on short, descriptive country case studies, using written secondary and primary sources and expert information. Results and Discussion Our analysis shows that in our countries, the health workforce drew on a wide range of capacities during the first wave of the pandemic. However, health systems prerequisites seemed to have little influence on the health workforce's specific combinations of capacities. Conclusion This calls for a reconceptualisation of the institutional perquisites of health system resilience to fully grasp the health workforce contribution. Here, strengthening governance emerges as key to effective health system responses to the COVID‐19 crisis, as it integrates health professions as frontline workers and collective actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Viola Burau & Michelle Falkenbach & Stefano Neri & Stephen Peckham & Iris Wallenburg & Ellen Kuhlmann, 2022. "Health system resilience and health workforce capacities: Comparing health system responses during the COVID‐19 pandemic in six European countries," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 2032-2048, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijhplm:v:37:y:2022:i:4:p:2032-2048
    DOI: 10.1002/hpm.3446
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wilsford, David, 1994. "Path Dependency, or Why History Makes It Difficult but Not Impossible to Reform Health Care Systems in a Big Way," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 251-283, July.
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    1. Paschoalotto, Marco Antonio Catussi & Lazzari, Eduardo Alves & Rocha, Rudi & Massuda, Adriano & Castro, Marcia C., 2023. "Health systems resilience: is it time to revisit resilience after COVID-19?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    2. Burau, Viola & Mejsner, Sofie Buch & Falkenbach, Michelle & Fehsenfeld, Michael & Kotherová, Zuzana & Neri, Stefano & Wallenburg, Iris & Kuhlmann, Ellen, 2024. "Post-COVID health policy responses to healthcare workforce capacities: A comparative analysis of health system resilience in six European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    3. Ellen Kuhlmann & Jean-Louis Denis & Nancy Côté & Gabriela Lotta & Stefano Neri, 2023. "Comparing Health Workforce Policy during a Major Global Health Crisis: A Critical Conceptual Debate and International Empirical Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Kotherová Zuzana & Caithamlová Martina & Nemec Miroslav, 2023. "Factors Influencing the Involvement of Nurses in Preventive Care and Health Literacy in the Czech Republic," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 17(2), pages 33-50, December.
    5. Byrne, John-Paul & Humphries, Niamh & McMurray, Robert & Scotter, Cris, 2023. "COVID-19 and healthcare worker mental well-being: Comparative case studies on interventions in six countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

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