Enabling Resilience in Rural Healthcare Delivery System: A Novel Approach Through Modularity and Sharing in Design
摘要
This study asserts that a resilient rural healthcare delivery system (RHDS) in any developing country, such as India, requires attention to building resilience at the local level, particularly within primary healthcare centers (PHCs). Traditionally built healthcare facilities (HCFs) in rural India are neither adaptable nor easily upgradable. Consequently, there is increasing emphasis on designing flexible and adaptable healthcare facilities. Several countries have deployed Mobile Health Units (MHUs) and other modular solutions to deliver healthcare services in remote and rural areas. However, the standard MHUs suffer from limitations and inherent inefficiencies resulting from frequent relocations, and makeshift arrangements. As a result, the RHDS suffers inefficiencies over the lifecycle. This paper presents a novel approach building on the productization and modularity of the PHCs and the MHUs. The proposed solution adopts a systems approach, seeking enhanced resource efficiency at the macro level. The hypothesis posits that a change in the design and operations of PHCs and MHUs through the concept of modularity and sharing in design can provide greater resource efficiency in the RHDS. Resource efficiency is an important indicator of health system resilience. This study qualitative study focuses on a conceptual approach, laying foundations for the proposed RHDS. The study concludes that modularity and sharing in design concepts can be leveraged for a synergistic integration between PHCs and MHUs to create a novel resilient RHDS.