RESHAPE: RESilience in HeAlth Post-Extreme weather events

Start date: 1 January 2024
End date: 31 December 2028
Funder: National Institute for Health Research
Value: £3 million
Partners and collaborators: UEA, De Montfort University, Hanoi University of Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Mbarara University Science and Technology, National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit,
Primary investigator: Dr Paul Hutchings
Co-investigators: Prof Jamie Bartram, Professor Nikolaos Nikitas

RESHAPE’s research aim Improving business continuity for health services following extreme weather events (EWEs). We will generate context-specific knowledge of how High Resilience Healthcare Delivery (HRHD) can be developed and sustained in lower and middle income countries in the context of EWEs. That knowledge will inform the co-creation of interventions designed to strengthen health care services and resilience in our study sites. We will evaluate effectiveness of these programmes to see if they are sustainable and likely to improve health outcomes during and after EWEs.

Research Design and Outputs UK university partners are working with academic and community partners in Malawi, Tanzania, Vietnam and Uganda. Our approach is multi-stage, multi-method and co-created. We aim to develop tailored solutions for improving business continuity for health services following EWEs.

This project brings together expertise in business continuity management (BCM), resilience engineering and participatory processes including community, patient and carer involvement, along with expertise in public health and health service management.

RESHAPE is a mixed-methods study with five main objectives:

Improving our knowledge of the impact that EWEs have on healthcare systems globally and what factors affect those systems’ resilience in the face of such events (Work package 1). Describing the healthcare systems in the case study areas, their served communities and how both have been affected by and responded to EWEs. This will provide a foundation for locally relevant insights into processes and adaptations, and their influence on health outcomes (Work Package 2). Developing with local partners, through business continuity planning, resilience engineering and participatory research methods, protocols for EWE preparedness, response and recovery, and guidance on good practices, knowledge exchange, and interventions development. This is a proposed process to create resilient healthcare delivery (Work Package 3). Applying and evaluating the interventions, targeting specific levels of healthcare systems. We plan to embed resources and processes that can sustain and enhance broader healthcare system resilience, with feedback into global knowledge frameworks. Strengthening Research Capacity and research leadership in Southern partners and support southern-southern knowledge exchange.

Objectives 1-4 relate directly to work packages 1-4. Objective 3 will be embedded in case study sites as an iterative process. We want to enable resilience beyond the project period through ongoing adaptation and refinement over time. By strengthening research leadership in our southern partners and encouraging south-south knowledge sharing, Objective 5 ensures that our research will continue to have beneficial impact well beyond the life of the project.

Impact

Improve the resilience of healthcare systems in four partner countries (Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Vietnam).

Publications and outputs

https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/norwich-medical-school/research/Reshape-NIHR

Project website

https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/norwich-medical-school/research/Reshape-NIHR