In 2023, the article “Evidence on Scaling in Health and Social Care: An Umbrella Review” was published. Several members of our unit are part of the team that wrote it.
- Roberta de Carvalho Corôa
- Amédé Gogovor
- Ali Ben Charif
- Asma Ben Hassine
- Hervé Tchala Vignon Zomahoun
- Robert K. D. McLean
- Andrew Milat
- Karine V. Plourde
- Nathalie Rheault
- Luke Wolfenden
- France Légaré
Corôa, R. de C., Gogovor, A., Ben Charif, A., Ben Hassine, A., Zomahoun, H. T. V., McLean, R. K. D., Milat, A., Plourde, K. V., Rheault, N., Wolfenden, L., & Légaré, F. (2023). Evidence on Scaling in Health and Social Care: An Umbrella Review. Health Research Policy and Systems, 21, Article 34. https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-022-00830-5
Context
Scaling up effective innovations in health and social care is essential to increase their impact. This study aimed to synthesize the available evidence on scaling and identify current knowledge gaps.
Method
An umbrella systematic review was conducted using a rigorous approach. Searches were performed across nine relevant databases and grey literature sources.
Results
Out of 24,269 documents screened, 137 unique reviews were included, 58 of which were systematic reviews. The study identified nine major knowledge domains related to scaling:
- Barriers and facilitators to scaling
- Costs of scaling
- Theoretical frameworks for scaling
- Scaling infrastructures
- Scaling interventions
- Performance measures for scaling
- Scalability assessment
- Bibliometric analysis on scaling
- Ethical, legal, and societal issues in scaling
The domains most frequently reported as influencing successful scaling were infrastructure development (e.g., creating new service sites) and human resources (e.g., training community care providers).
Conclusion
This study shows that evidence on scaling is rapidly evolving. It highlights methodological and infrastructural gaps. Coordinated efforts are needed to ensure that scaling enables health and social care innovations to benefit a broader population.