Analyzing Healthcare Facility Resilience: Scientometric Review and Knowledge Map

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Environmental Health
• Engineering

Background:

• Modern society faces increasing pressure on healthcare facilities from disasters like epidemics and extreme weather, alongside chronic issues such as aging populations.
• Enhancing the resilience of healthcare facilities to withstand, absorb, and respond to disruptions is a critical and urgent need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scientometric review of healthcare facility resilience research published between 2000 and 2020.
• To identify key research trends, knowledge domains, and future research directions in this field.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was performed across Web of Science, Scopus, and MEDLINE databases.
• A total of 374 articles were analyzed using scientometric techniques, including co-citation network analysis and content analysis.
• A timeline view was used to track the evolution of research domains.

Main Results:

• Research on healthcare facility resilience has progressed through three distinct developmental periods.
• Key research areas include climate change impact, resilience against war and epidemics, facility resilience assessment, and information system applications.
• The study identified frequently used keywords such as "resilience," "hospital," "disaster," "healthcare," and "healthcare facility."

Conclusions:

• The review provides a knowledge map of healthcare facility resilience, highlighting critical research areas, current knowledge gaps, and potential future research avenues.
• This work aims to assist researchers and practitioners in identifying emerging topics and advancing the field of healthcare facility resilience.