AUTHOR=Wu Tzu-Chi , Ho Chien-Ta Bruce 

TITLE=A Narrative Review of Innovative Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=67

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604652

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1604652

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. While existing studies on innovation have typically focused on technology, health providers still only have a vague understanding of the features of emergency responses during resource exhaustion in the early stage of a pandemic. Thus, a better understanding of innovative responses by healthcare systems during a crisis is urgently needed.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Using content analysis, this narrative review examined articles on innovative responses during the COVID-19 pandemic that were published in 2020.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 613 statements about innovative responses were identified from 296 articles and were grouped under the following thematic categories: medical care (<italic>n</italic> = 273), workforce education (<italic>n</italic> = 144), COVID-19 surveillance (<italic>n</italic> = 84), medical equipment (<italic>n</italic> = 59), prediction and management (<italic>n</italic> = 34), and governance (<italic>n</italic> = 19). From the four types of innovative responses extracted, technological innovation was identified as the major type of innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by process innovations, frugal innovation, and repurposing.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Our review provides insights into the features, types, and evolution of innovative responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review can help health providers and society show better and quicker responses in resource-constrained conditions in future pandemics.</p>