SOCIAL FACTORS IN THE SUSTAINABILITY MODEL OF THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

Climate change puts a twofold burden on the healthcare sector. On the one hand, healthcare must adapt to climate change by transforming the healthcare system to treat climate change-induced diseases and health disorders. On the other hand, it is acknowledged that the healthcare sector is responsible for almost 5% of global emissions, a figure which can even reach 10% in some high-incomenations [1] and lags behind other sectors in reducing its carbon footprint [2]. To slow down global warming and mitigate its negative impacts, on 31 July 2023, the European Commission adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which specify the information that the
companies shall disclose about their material impacts, risks and opportunities in relation to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability matters.
To enhance the governance solutions in the Latvian public ospitals, Riga Stradins University launched a Latvian Council of Science financed project “Socially Responsible Green Transition:
Enhancing Governance Solutions to Empower Homo Climaticus in the Healthcare Sector” (Nr. Lzp2023/1-034) in 2024. A new, four-dimensional utility model was proposed for defining measures in
the context of the sustainability linked to a framework for designing the corporate governance of the public hospitals. This study was aimed to identify the key measures for defining sustainable development of the social priorities for the utility model that consists of social, environmental,
economic, and governance (ESGE) dimensions.
A survey of the literature was conducted to identify the interdependence of the social factors and sustainability and the benefits of their integration with the ESGE framework, social and
governance factors in particular. The literature review covers published information for the period from 1994 till 2023. Systematic literature resulted in the identification of 49 potential measures for defining sustainability priorities of green transition in healthcare sector, of which 12 measures were related to social dimension of the sustainable corporate governance, namely: patient well-being,
workforce well-being, health and safety, incl. practice “Do not harm”, skills and knowledge, quality of care, equity, collaboration, employment, sustainable health, accessibility, availability (24/7) and affordability.
Limitations and future research: limitations of the study come from the sustainability reporting/management framework within the scope of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards as well as most of the studies have focused on public healthcare settings only. Future research directions may consist of further investigations of the possible/actual outcomes in green transition of healthcare organisations that are based on their developed and adopted business models.