Health systems as human systems
Reflexivity, relationships, and resilience in the pursuit of the SDGs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22081980 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lucy Gilson (0000-0002-2775-7703, University of Cape Town, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Pages | 1653839-1653839 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1653839 |
| PMID | 40910051 |
| OpenAlex | W4413362738 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 29 |
Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) plays a critical role in efforts to strengthen health systems in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This manuscript, adapted from the 2024 Virchow Lecture, explores the nature of HPSR, presents a systems-thinking perspective on health systems, and outlines key principles and strategies toward health system strengthening. It emphasizes the human dimensions of health systems—relationships, trust, leadership, values and meaning-making—as foundational to their resilience and outcomes. This narrative is informed by decades of experience and research at the intersection of policy, practice, and academia, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The paper concludes with a call to reimagine health systems as open, dynamic, and human-centered institutions that generate public value and promote equity
Engineering ethics · Health care · Health equity · Healthcare system · Narrative · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Sustainable development · Systems thinking · Computer Science · Engineering · Global Maternal and Child Health · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Law · Medicine · Nursing
Disrupting gender norms in health systems
Everyday resilience in district health systems
Taking on the Commercial Determinants of Health at the level of actors, practices and systems
Asserting public health interest in acting on commercial determinants of health in sub-Saharan Africa
Power analysis in health policy and systems research
Reclaiming comprehensive public health
Research Involving Health Providers and Managers
Health systems frameworks in their political context
How has the concept of health system software been used in health policy and systems research? A scoping review
Practice and power
Explorations on people centredness in health systems
Health systems of oppression
Strengthening health system leadership for better governance
Health system reform and path-dependency
Beyond measurement
The inter-section of political history and health policy in Asia - The historical foundations for health policy analysis
Trust and the development of health care as a social institution
Trust and health worker performance
The market shaping of charges, trust and abuse
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |