The Sustainable Development Goal 3 seeks to ensure health and well-being for all at every stage of life. This book discusses how to strengthen our healthcare systems and ensure sustainable community healthcare delivery by using systems thinking, an approach to understanding complex interactions of individual system elements in nature. Financing and manpower planning are integral processes to achieve health for all in the world. Adopting the Framework for Action of the World Health Organization for Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Health Outcomes, this book reviews and discusses, illustrated by case examples, the building blocks of healthcare systems, namely financing, human resources, management strategies and leadership and governance in the context of accessibility, coverage, quality and safety of community health services to achieve selected targets in SDG 3 in the context of global health. This book will be of interest to those who are researching sustainable healthcare systems, as well as policymakers and healthcare professionals.

This book is a primer focusing on systems thinking as it spans the domains of health administration, public health, and clinical practice. Currently, the accrediting commissions within public health, health administration, and nursing are including systems thinking as part of the core competencies in their respective fields and professions. Meanwhile, academic programs do not have the materials, other than journal articles, to give students the requisite understanding of systems thinking as is expected of the next generation of health professionals. This primer is designed to meet that void and serve as a supplemental reading for this important and timely topic. This is the only book of its kind that provides a broad introduction and demonstration of the application of health systems thinking.

This book provides a timely review on what has been accomplished, and what remains amiss, following the World Health Organization’s 1978 ‘Health for All’ campaign, by identifying enduring gaps in health care within a global context. The WHO declaration of "Health for All by the Year 2000" mapped out a road towards primary health care for all people and demarcated it as essential for human progress in terms of economic development and social justice. However, 45 years have gone by, and most societies and countries have yet achieved 'health for all’, despite so much having changed in technology, disease patterns, and population demographics. In promoting community health and improving service delivery, the book advocates the development and implementation of “All For Health” strategies to steer stakeholders in the right direction towards universal health care. The book covers the gaps and actions in health improvements, the ‘All For Health’ strategies, and the Health in All Policies (HiAP), reviewing and discussing issues through both Asian and international examples. Contributors include both academics and practitioners from diverse professional backgrounds including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, dietetics, social sciences, life sciences, education, business, administration, law, and public policy. Essential to scholars in public health and related disciplines, this book is also useful to policymakers, community and public health practitioners, and health care executives and interns.

This book applies environmental, social and governance (ESG) to issues of sustainable development in healthcare. ESG reporting has been widely used for some time in the business industry to show the economic, social and environmental responsibilities of companies that aim to achieve superior ESG performance for lower risk, more accountability and transparency. Moreover, public-listed companies in healthcare have been growing in significant numbers in recent years. The application or practice of ESG in healthcare has become a growing trend for these large organisations looking to demonstrate their strengths in areas of financing, operations, sustainability and social responsibilities. Such an approach is essential not only for the long-term development of the companies but also for services delivered by healthcare practitioners. Equally, the implications to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 is relevant to healthcare worldwide with a growing ageing population, which has led to a great burden of care in many countries, particularly in the public sector. The potential development and expansion in private healthcare services, accelerated by technology advancement, has demanded a new paradigm in the healthcare industry, particularly in business, service delivery and policy. The book examines this paradigm through health in all policies, ESG and SDG 3 objectives, research, training and practice. It is relevant to graduate students and scholars working in areas relating to health, business and the SDGs and is also useful to policymakers and practitioners in healthcare.

Makes the case for systems thinking in an easily accessible form for a broad interdisciplinary audience, including health system stewards, programme implementers, researchers, evaluators, and funding partners.

This book presents a systems thinking approach in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals for sustainable national development in vulnerable countries. Systems thinking is a process for understanding the interrelationships among the key components of a system; this book illustrates sustainable development as a system. Key environmental issues are discussed showing their relationship to socioeconomic aspects of development, in the light of increased climate threats and environmental disasters.

Green Healthcare Institutions : Health, Environment, and Economics, Workshop Summary is based on the ninth workshop in a series of workshops sponsored by the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine since the roundtable began meeting in 1998. When choosing workshops and activities, the roundtable looks for areas of mutual concern and also areas that need further research to develop a strong environmental science background. This workshop focused on the environmental and health impacts related to the design, construction, and operations of healthcare facilities, which are part of one of the largest service industries in the United States. Healthcare institutions are major employers with a considerable role in the community, and it is important to analyze this significant industry. The environment of healthcare facilities is unique; it has multiple stakeholders on both sides, as the givers and the receivers of care. In order to provide optimal care, more research is needed to determine the impacts of the built environment on human health. The scientific evidence for embarking on a green building agenda is not complete, and at present, scientists have limited information. Green Healthcare Institutions : Health, Environment, and Economics, Workshop Summary captures the discussions and presentations by the speakers and participants; they identified the areas in which additional research is needed, the processes by which change can occur, and the gaps in knowledge.

Sustainable Healthcare sets out a vision for medical care of high quality, manageable cost and low impact on the planetary systems which sustain us. In tackling the major challenges of our age, such as resource depletion, loss of biodiversity and climate change, health services can play a central role, moving from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution. Sustainable Healthcare explores questions such as: What is the relevance of sustainability in healthcare? How does climate change threaten human health? How can we create low carbon care pathways? How can healthcare organizations deal better with their waste? How can death and dying become more sustainable? How can we engage ourselves and others with this agenda? Written by an international team combining clinical, educational, practical and policy expertise in sustainability and health, this book provides a synopsis of our current predicaments, and explores some of the emerging solutions. Containing case studies and resources for further information and action, Sustainable Healthcare is a practical guide to making healthcare more sustainable for all healthcare professionals, managers and students. "Once in a while one comes across a book that makes a deep impact. Sustainable Healthcare is such a book and very timely in the context of modern healthcare and developing green policies.... The book is clear in ideas of critical thinking, scientific evidence and practical suggestions for transformative action.... An additional strength in this book are the summary key papers and reports including key points from the chapters. In addition, there is a comprehensive list of references in each chapter.... The authors cut through the jargon and challenge the rhetoric of both fear and denial.... The authors give examples of how we can engage with sustainability such as, diet and exercise, prescription management, contraception management and family planning and end of life care.... The book provides useful sources, references and key actions for individuals, healthcare organisations and policy making departments." —A review by Prof Davinder Sandhu, Postgraduate Dean, Health Education South West, Severn Deanery, UK

This Systems Thinking Special Issue contains 12 papers on the nature of systems thinking as it applies to systems engineering, systems science, system dynamics, and related fields. Systems thinking can be broadly considered the activity of thinking applied in a systems context, forming a basis for fundamental approaches to several systems disciplines, including systems engineering, systems science, and system dynamics. Although these are somewhat distinct fields, they are bound by common approaches in regard to systems. Whereas systems engineering seeks to apply a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to the development of systems, systems science seeks to understand the basics related to systems of all kinds, from natural to man-made, and system dynamics seeks to understand system structures in order to influence its dynamics. Man-made systems have become more ubiquitous and complex. The study of systems, both natural and engineered, presents new challenges and opportunities to understand emergent, dynamic behaviors that inform the process of sense-making based on systems thinking.