Sustainability endeavors and sustainable development in Spanish public hospitals

Abstract

Purpose The research aims to describe the foundation of healthcare organizations’ past and present sustainability endeavors; describe the direction of a health-care organizations’ sustainable development; reveal and characterize what determines the foundation and direction in a public health-care sector; and provide some insights into social marketing for sustainability endeavors. Design/methodology/approach Based on a semi-inductive approach, judgmental sampling was applied to select relevant health-care organizations. Informants were identified according to their knowledge of their organizations’ sustainability initiatives. Findings Offer insights into the foundation of sustainability endeavors and the direction of sustainable development for upstream social marketing in the studied public sector. The social marketing perspective is a common factor of relevance for the studied public hospitals. Research limitations/implications The foundations of sustainability endeavors undertaken across the studied health-care organizations have not so far been homogenous. The direction of sustainable development has also varied across the studied public healthcare organizations and there is a need to move beyond individuals and shift from a micro to a macro/structural environment of sustainable development, so as to observe the effectiveness of any social marketing intervention. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of applying an upstream social marketing approach and programs, as part of a social marketing strategy, to promote and stimulate sustainable change in health-care organizations. Social implications Contrary to the common sense predominating in many societies nowadays regarding sustainability endeavors and sustainable development, we conclude that neither the foundation of such endeavors nor the direction of sustainable development has progressed adequately in the studied public healthcare sector. As social marketing is intended to benefit society and foster social change, the macro level of intervention of the upstream approach clearly reveals its usefulness in the public health area. Originality/value Reveals two axes based on a social marketing approach. One is of micro and macro determinants characterizing the direction of sustainable development in a public sector. Another is of homogeneous and heterogeneous foundations of sustainability endeavors.

Value-Based Decision to Redevelop Transportation Facilities: A Case Study of an Abandoned Airport

“…The hospital can enhance the land value of the building by looking at the provided demand. It was found that communities contribute to the sustainability of the hospital [43]. Based on Table 9, building materials (f 1 ) with a weightage of 0.50710 is the most important criterion for redeveloping an abandoned airport, as rated by respondent 5.…”

A novel hybrid sustainable healthcare supply chain model for patient safety: A case study of Cambodia

“…In developing nations, the lack of flexibility, uncertainty of the economic environment, and the absence of institutional frameworks hinder the understanding of real issues within the supply chain, creating barriers to innovation [16]. Additionally, the growing demand for high-quality healthcare in developed countries has led to limited resources, making social marketing an effective tool for promoting sustainable behavioral change [41].…”

The Role of Public Resource Desynchronization on Business Model Sustainability in the Private Healthcare Industry

“…In sum, regarding the influence of hospital actions on sustainable development and sustainability, there are limited previous studies in the healthcare sector [3,4]. Principally, the little evidence that exists focuses on the management of both hospital waste and energy efficiency [55] Nevertheless, there are no previous studies focusing explicitly on desynchronization to reveal unsustainability in the healthcare industry, and that is our focus here.…”

“…The literature does offer sustainability research in the healthcare sector [1][2][3][4][5]. However, no previous studies have examined the role of resource desynchronization in business model unsustainability within the healthcare sector, such as private hospitals.…”