Mise en oeuvre, mise à l'échelle et pérennisation des initiatives innovantes dans les systèmes de santé des pays avec des ressources limitées : cas de la Tunisie

In many countries, especially in countries with limited resources, significant efforts are invested in the implementation of small-scale innovative initiatives, which are very successful at the local level, but subsequently fail to be expanded and decline over time. The objective of this thesis is to understand and explain the issues related to the implementation, scaling up and sustainability processes of innovative initiatives in countries with limited resources. This topic is important given the major challenges currently facing health systems in these countries.  This thesis analyzes the implementation, scaling up and sustainability of innovative initiatives according to Talcott Parsons’ social action theory. This theory states that all social action is composed of small subunits of interrelated and interlocking systems of action interacting with each other and with their own environment. The social action theory allows for analysis of different related and embedded phenomena at different systemic and temporal levels such as implementation, scaling up and sustainability processes. As part of this thesis, we design the social action system of the scaling up process as a social action system of the implementation process at a higher level in space, and the social action system of the sustainability process as a social action system of the continuous implementation process over time at the same level or at a higher level.  As part of the research, we investigated these three processes in a country context with limited resources, using a multiple case study based on qualitative research with nested levels of analysis. Four innovative initiatives introduced in the Tunisian health sector between 1964 and 2010 were the subject of the study. These include the Mobile Strategy for Family Planning Services (1964), the Hospital Management Reform Project (1991), the National Health District Development Program (1994), and the Vaccine Supply Chain Optimization Project (2010). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, followed by a ten-day observation period (and informal discussions) and review of official documents for each initiative. The data was analyzed using a content analysis in the QDA-Miner software (version 4.1.27). This empirical research has allowed us to highlight the nature and the level of influence of the contextual determinants that make it possible to explain the different levels of implementation, scale up and sustainability measures (structural, procedural and effective) proposed by the theoretical framework of the study.  The results of this research support the proposition that social action systems of implementation and scaling up processes (at any level) may be primarily influenced by structural determinants (political commitment, historical and legal context, etc.) and organizational (leadership, technical expertise, availability of resources, collaborations, etc.), while individual determinants (level of skills, commitment, trust and motivation) and characteristics related to innovative initiatives ( relevance, practical and technical compatibility with the local context, simplicity, etc.) are more involved in the social action system of the sustainability process. These results send a signal to donors and policymakers who would like to successfully implement, scale up and sustain innovative health initiatives in the context with limited resources.  In light of these results, we have proposed a new integrative approach to better understand the analysis of implementation, scaling up and sustainability processes of innovative initiatives in health systems. This approach considers the processes of implementation, scaling up and sustainability as interconnected and interlocking social action systems, in constant evolution and interaction with a common environment encompassing several contextual determinants of success and challenges operating at different levels (structural, organizational, individual and intervention).

Keyphrases: Implementation, Scaling up, Sustainability, Social action systems, Innovative initiatives, Contextual determinants, Countries with limited resources, Tunisia