abstract: 'Background: Social innovation has been applied increasingly to achieve

  social goals, including improved healthcare delivery, despite a lack of

  conceptual clarity and consensus on its definition. Beyond its tangible

  artefacts to address societal and structural needs, social innovation

  can best be understood as innovation in social relations, in power

  dynamics and in governance transformations, and may include

  institutional and systems transformations.

  Methods: A scoping review was conducted of empirical studies published

  in the past 10 years, to identify how social innovation in healthcare

  has been applied, the enablers and barriers affecting its operation, and

  gaps in the current literature. A number of disciplinary databases were

  searched between April and June 2020, including Academic Source

  Complete, CIHAHL, Business Source Complete Psych INFO, PubMed and Global

  Health. A 10-year publication time frame was selected and articles

  limited to English text. Studies for final inclusion was based on a

  pre-defined criteria.

  Results: Of the 27 studies included in this review, the majority adopted

  a case research methodology. Half of these were from authors outside the

  health sector working in high-income countries (HIC). Social innovation

  was seen to provide creative solutions to address barriers associated

  with access and cost of care in both low- and middle-income countries

  and HIC settings in a variety of disease focus areas. Compared to

  studies in other disciplines, health researchers applied social

  innovation mainly from an instrumental and technocratic standpoint to

  foster greater patient and beneficiary participation in health

  programmes. No empirical evidence was presented on whether this process

  leads to empowerment, and social innovation was not presented as

  transformative. The studies provided practical insights on how

  implementing social innovation in health systems and practice can be

  enhanced.

  Conclusions: Based on theoretical literature, social innovation has the

  potential to mobilise institutional and systems change, yet research in

  health has not yet fully explored this dimension. Thus far, social

  innovation has been applied to extend population and financial coverage,

  principles inherent in universal health coverage and central to SDG 3.8.

  However, limitations exist in conceptualising social innovation and

  applying its theoretical and multidisciplinary underpinnings in health

  research.'
affiliation: 'van Niekerk, L (Corresponding Author), London Sch Hyg \& Trop Med, London,
  England.

  van Niekerk, Lindi; Balabanova, Dina, London Sch Hyg \& Trop Med, London, England.

  Manderson, Lenore, Univ Witwatersrand, Sch Publ Hlth, Johannesburg, South Africa.

  Manderson, Lenore, Monash Univ, Sch Social Sci, Clayton, Vic, Australia.'
article-number: '26'
author: van Niekerk, Lindi and Manderson, Lenore and Balabanova, Dina
author-email: lindivn@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: van Niekerk
  given: Lindi
- family: Manderson
  given: Lenore
- family: Balabanova
  given: Dina
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1186/s40249-021-00794-8
eissn: 2049-9957
files: []
issn: 2095-5162
journal: INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF POVERTY
keywords: Barriers to care; Healthcare; Social innovation; Systems change
keywords-plus: PUBLIC-HEALTH; ENTREPRENEURSHIP; INSTITUTIONS; CHALLENGES
language: English
month: MAR 8
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '89'
orcid-numbers: Balabanova, Dina/0000-0001-7163-3428
papis_id: 39594bac87f23409abb4f8ac28aed99c
ref: Vanniekerk2021applicationsocial
tags:
- review
times-cited: '18'
title: 'The application of social innovation in healthcare: a scoping review'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000626662100001
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '34'
volume: '10'
web-of-science-categories: Infectious Diseases; Parasitology; Tropical Medicine
year: '2021'