Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings
Clinicians, NGOs, funders and academics (among others) in global health are accustomed to discussion of the “low-resource setting”. Commonly, the resources implicit in this term are physical (equipment, drugs) and infrastructural (electricity, water and sanitation) in nature. Human resources are wel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Health Services |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frhs.2025.1625409/full |
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| author | Hilary Edgcombe Gatwiri Murithi Mary Mungai Stephen Okelo Sassy Molyneux Helen Higham Mike English |
| author_facet | Hilary Edgcombe Gatwiri Murithi Mary Mungai Stephen Okelo Sassy Molyneux Helen Higham Mike English |
| author_sort | Hilary Edgcombe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Clinicians, NGOs, funders and academics (among others) in global health are accustomed to discussion of the “low-resource setting”. Commonly, the resources implicit in this term are physical (equipment, drugs) and infrastructural (electricity, water and sanitation) in nature. Human resources are well recognised as scarce in this context too, and the focus in most “workforce” research is on the number, distribution and/or training of healthcare workers. In this article, we make the case for closer examination of “social resource” as necessary to patient safety and distinct from simple enumeration of available/trained personnel. We use the clinical specialty of anaesthesia as a case study, identifying the different ways in which social resource is necessary to enable safe practice for anaesthesia providers, and the potential challenges to accessing social resource relevant in the low- and middle-income context. Finally, we suggest ways in which social resource for anaesthesia professionals in LMICs might be meaningfully investigated, with a view to improving its priority and access for safe anaesthesia care worldwide. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7de27a2e0fc74f1e90ca49a17b406b98 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2813-0146 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Health Services |
| spelling | doaj-art-7de27a2e0fc74f1e90ca49a17b406b982025-08-20T03:28:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Health Services2813-01462025-07-01510.3389/frhs.2025.16254091625409Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settingsHilary Edgcombe0Gatwiri Murithi1Mary Mungai2Stephen Okelo3Sassy Molyneux4Helen Higham5Mike English6Nuffield Department of Medicine, Health Systems Collaborative, Centre for Global Health Research, Oxford University, Oxford, United KingdomSafe Surgery and Anesthesia Program, Centre for Public Health and Development, Nairobi, KenyaAnaesthesia Department, Kijabe Hospital, Kijabe, KenyaDepartment of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Maseno University, Kisumu, KenyaNuffield Department of Medicine, Health Systems Collaborative, Centre for Global Health Research, Oxford University, Oxford, United KingdomNuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomNuffield Department of Medicine, Health Systems Collaborative, Centre for Global Health Research, Oxford University, Oxford, United KingdomClinicians, NGOs, funders and academics (among others) in global health are accustomed to discussion of the “low-resource setting”. Commonly, the resources implicit in this term are physical (equipment, drugs) and infrastructural (electricity, water and sanitation) in nature. Human resources are well recognised as scarce in this context too, and the focus in most “workforce” research is on the number, distribution and/or training of healthcare workers. In this article, we make the case for closer examination of “social resource” as necessary to patient safety and distinct from simple enumeration of available/trained personnel. We use the clinical specialty of anaesthesia as a case study, identifying the different ways in which social resource is necessary to enable safe practice for anaesthesia providers, and the potential challenges to accessing social resource relevant in the low- and middle-income context. Finally, we suggest ways in which social resource for anaesthesia professionals in LMICs might be meaningfully investigated, with a view to improving its priority and access for safe anaesthesia care worldwide.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frhs.2025.1625409/fullsocial supportsocial resources theoryanaesthetistslow- and middle-income countrieslow-resource settingpatient safety |
| spellingShingle | Hilary Edgcombe Gatwiri Murithi Mary Mungai Stephen Okelo Sassy Molyneux Helen Higham Mike English Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings Frontiers in Health Services social support social resources theory anaesthetists low- and middle-income countries low-resource setting patient safety |
| title | Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings |
| title_full | Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings |
| title_fullStr | Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings |
| title_short | Social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low-resource settings |
| title_sort | social resource as a critical and overlooked factor for patient safety in low resource settings |
| topic | social support social resources theory anaesthetists low- and middle-income countries low-resource setting patient safety |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frhs.2025.1625409/full |
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