Making change last? Exploring the value of sustainability approaches in healthcare: a scoping review
File(s)s12961-020-00601-0.pdf (1.21 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Lennox, Laura
Maher, Lynne
Linwood-Amor, Alanis
Reed, Julie
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Numerous models, tools and frameworks have been produced to improve the sustainability of evidence-based interventions. Due to the vast number available,choosing the most appropriate one is increasingly difficult for researchers and practitioners.To understand the value of such approaches,evidence warranting their use is needed.However, there is limited understanding of how sustainability approaches have been used and how they have impacted research or practice.This review aims to consolidate evidence on the application and impact of sustainability approaches in healthcare settings.Methods: A systematic scoping review was designed to search for peer-reviewed publications detailing the use of sustainability approaches in practice. A5-stage framework for scoping reviews directed the search strategy, and quality assessment was performed using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT).Searches were performed through electronic citation tracking and snowballing of references. Articles were obtained through Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar. Six outcome variables for sustainability were explored to ascertain impact of approaches. Results: This review includes 68 articles demonstrating the application of sustainability approaches in practice. Results show an increase in the use of sustainability approaches in peer-reviewed studies.Approaches have been applied across arange of healthcare settings including primary, secondary, tertiary, and community healthcare.Approaches are used for 5 main purposes:analysis, evaluation, guidance, assessment and planning.Results outline benefits (e.g. improved conceptualisation of sustainability constructs and improved ability to interpret sustainability data) and challenges (e.g. issues with approach constructs, and difficulty in application)associated with using a sustainability approach in practice. Few articles (14/68) reported the sustainability outcome variables explored, therefore the impact of approaches on sustainability remains unclear.Additional sustainability outcome variables reported in retrieved articles are discussed. Conclusions:This review provides practitioners and researchers with a consolidated evidence base on sustainability approaches. Findings highlight the remaining gaps in the literature and emphasise the need for improved rigour and reporting of sustainability approaches in research studies.To guide future assessment and study of sustainability in healthcare settings an updated list of sustainability outcome variables is proposed
Date Issued
2020-10-13
Date Acceptance
2020-07-07
Citation
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2020, 18 (120), pp.1-24
ISSN
1478-4505
Publisher
BioMed Central
Start Page
1
End Page
24
Journal / Book Title
Health Research Policy and Systems
Volume
18
Issue
120
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if
changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons
licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons
licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain
permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the
data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if
changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons
licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons
licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain
permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the
data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
License URL
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Identifier
https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-020-00601-0
Grant Number
WPPA_P84260
N/A
Subjects
Sustainability
frameworks
healthcare improvement
models
sustainability outcomes
tools
Health Policy & Services
1117 Public Health and Health Services
1605 Policy and Administration
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-10-13