The mission of the RESIL-Card project is to enhance European health systems’ resilience in maintaining essential healthcare services for people with cardiovascular (CV) diseases during crises that impact care delivery. Specifically, the project aims to develop a resilience assessment tool for European CV care pathways, to provide guidance for assessing and improving health systems’ preparedness to absorb shocks.
The RESIL-Card tool was developed through an inclusive and stepwise process (Fig.1), which included 1) a literature review, 2) a survey targeting European members of PCR representing the cardiology community, and 3) some focus groups with CV care stakeholders across Europe. These tasks culminated in the conception of the first version of the resilience assessment tool at the end of January.
Figure 1 – Development phases of the first version of the RESIL-Card resilience assessment tool
Drawing on the findings from the literature review and the survey, five online focus groups were convened with stakeholders representing three levels of health systems decision-making: clinical, organisational, and policy levels. Stakeholders included patient representatives, general practitioners, cardiac care unit physicians, heads of cardiology departments, head nurses, allied professionals, hospital managers, and members of health advisory organisations.
Considering the characteristics of the RESIL-Card survey respondents, the following focus groups were organised:
- 2 regional focus groups: Campania and Lombardy, Italy
- 2 national focus groups: Spain and the Netherlands
- 1 international focus group: other EU countries
The focus groups led to the identification and characterisation of critical aspects of healthcare resilience in European CV care pathways, drawing from the experiences and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. For each of the six resilience dimensions explored, key themes for assessing and enhancing resilience were identified in the focus groups (Fig. 2).
Figure 2 – Themes identified in the RESIL-Card focus groups for assessing and enhancing resilience of CV care pathways
The RESIL-Card Consortium would like to express their gratitude to the patients and professionals who have generously contributed with their time and expertise to the RESIL-Card focus groups. Their invaluable insights were instrumental in the development of the RESIL-Card tool.
The stepwise approach resulted in the development of the first version of the RESIL-Card resilience assessment tool, marking a significant milestone in the RESIL-Card project.
The RESIL-Card tool provides a structured guidance to assess and improve preparedness of CV care pathways for crises, by guiding users step by step to identify and address key areas for improvement of resilience in their own context.
Key features of the RESIL-Card tool are presented in Fig. 3.
Figure 3 – Key features of the RESIL-Card resilience assessment tool
A pilot testing of the RESIL-Card tool will be conducted during the next phase of the project (Work Package 2), aiming to evaluate the tool’s fitness-for-use and -purpose by testing its components and functionality within selected European CV care settings.
