Chapter 14 - Models for building resilient health communities: Strategies of systemic change to resolve a crisis and build back better

Abstract

Between economic instability, political unrest, natural disasters, climate change, and war, more and more people are living in conflict settings. Within these types of environments, public systems often struggle to continuously provide services to their communities. System resilience is generally defined as a system's ability to adapt and continue to provide services even after a crisis. The webinar, From Crisis to Resilience, hosted by the humanitarian response agency GOAL, presented three examples of organizations working to understand and strengthen resilient systems, specifically health systems. The first example demonstrated the importance of understanding the existing local structures before providing outside support. The second example explained how creating a common understanding of community healthcare needs could be used to develop relationships between different groups. Finally, the third example presented a theoretical understanding of how to develop community resilience.