A systematic review of the home health care planning literature: Emerging trends and future research directions

Abstract

Patients are traditionally treated in hospitals and healthcare facilities. However, many care services known as Home Health Care (HHC) are provided at patients’ homes. Despite the growing trend in life expectancy in developing countries, the number of health facilities and resources is not increasing at a similar rate. Therefore, the need for HHC is increasing worldwide. Over the last decade, research on operations management and planning in the HHC industry has received increased attention. This paper presents a systematic literature review to analyse the research on HHC management practices. The emphasis has been given to research papers considering uncertainty. The studied articles are assigned to research themes defined for each planning level. Each theme is discussed while identifying emerging trends and future research directions. The findings of this review can be used as the basis for HHC operational, tactical, and strategic planning and related topics.