Assessing Health System Resilience in Crisis Setting: A systematic Review of Frameworks Indicators and Best Practices

Abstract

Health Emergency Communication (HEC) may improve Community Resilience (CR) in the Saudi healthcare system, especially in the context of Vision 2030's reform drive. The social, organisational, and communicative aspects of resilience were explored by the thematic analysis of 15 peer-reviewed studies based on the PRISMA 2020 framework and Braun & Clarke (2006) thematic analysis. Results revealed Systemic cohesiveness, leadership continuity, and coordinated communication underpin institutional resilience. Multilingual, open risk communication, like the Hajj model, increases public engagement and trust, emphasising the significance of trust as a driver and consequence of appropriate HEC. Digital literacy and technology skills can help individuals become active communicators. Language barriers, fragmented policy frameworks, and geographical inequalities continue to hinder inclusive communication. The Saudi approach corresponds with international frameworks including the WHO's Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) and the Sendai Framework's Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) goals. At the same time, it promotes a culturally informed model of communicative resilience, along with faith-sensitive and community-based approaches. The research concludes, therefore, that an institutional preparedness, participatory governance, and digital empowerment model (particularly Saudi-specific) is able to reinforce adaptive capacities in the face of crises. These understandings add depth to policy and scholarly discourses by showing that resiliency in Saudi Arabia is nurtured not only through infrastructural or policy reforms, but also through trust-based communication systems that bond institutions and communities together in the collective response and recovery.