Applying a Cross-Cultural Health Systems Strengthening Diagnostic Tool

Abstract

The authors aim to contribute to the limited but growing body of cross-cultural research on the dynamic between social enterprise and systems context. They describe their experiences setting up a small social enterprise between 2004 and 2015 to deliver primary care services in England. They use a diagnostic tool to structure their discussion on the health systems context. The three domains—social impact, government systems, and health system capacity—influenced the authors' capacity and capability to realize social innovations in care to vulnerable people. This chapter will have implications for researchers, health policy makers, and social entrepreneurs with an interest in supporting the development of social enterprises, with particular reference to small social enterprises in health systems.