Resilience thinking in health protection

Matthew Castleden*, Martin McKee, Virginia Murray, Giovanni Leonardi

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    138 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In recent years, the term 'resilience' has gained increasing currency in discussions of emergency preparedness. This review identifies key concepts and explores the relevance of resilience for disaster planning and public health protection. MethodsA systematic review of literature on concepts of resilience, with a narrative summary of key relevant concepts for public health. ResultsThe key concepts identified were community resilience, disaster resilience and socialecological resilience. Community and disaster resilience describe a communitys intrinsic capacity to resist and recover from a disturbance, while the socialecological interpretation stresses the importance of thresholds in a societys capacity to adapt to crises. Important elements of resilience include communication, learning, adaptation, risk awareness and 'social capital'. ConclusionsThese concepts have clear relevance for public health and emergency planning. Resilient communities should be less dependent on external help in times of disaster. Many features of resilience also encompass the wider social and economic determinants of public health. Difficulties remain in defining and measuring resilience in the population health context.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)369-377
    Number of pages9
    JournalJournal of Public Health
    Volume33
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2011

    Keywords

    • community
    • disaster
    • health protection
    • planning
    • resilience

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