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Review
. 2023 Jan 4;20(2):908.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020908.

Towards Green and Sustainable Healthcare: A Literature Review and Research Agenda for Green Leadership in the Healthcare Sector

Justyna Berniak-Woźny  1 , Małgorzata Rataj  2
Affiliations
Review

Towards Green and Sustainable Healthcare: A Literature Review and Research Agenda for Green Leadership in the Healthcare Sector

Justyna Berniak-Woźny et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The health sector is one of the keys to sustainable development. Although it is directly related to only one Sustainable Development Goal (Goal 3, "Ensuring a healthy life and promoting well-being at all ages"), the sector itself, which aims to protect health, is paradoxically at the same time the main emitter of environmental pollutants that have a negative impact on health itself. Therefore, sustainability has become a key priority for health sector organizations, and leadership in this area is essential at all levels. Scientific research plays a particular role here, helping to more clearly define the links between environmental sustainability and the health effects of a polluted environment and climate change as well as indicating the direction of actions needed and disseminating good practices that can help accelerate the adoption of efforts towards climate neutrality and sustainable development of health sector organizations. The aim of this article is to present the current state of the art and future research scenarios in the field of green and sustainable healthcare through a literature review by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method to perform a bibliometric analysis of papers published in 2012-2022. The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database is used for this purpose. A total of 144 papers are included for analysis, categorized based on eight fields: author(s), title, year of publication, country, journal, scientific category, and number of citations. Based on the results, themes for future research on green leadership in the healthcare sector are identified and recommended.

Keywords: PRISMA; bibliometric analysis; green energy; innovation; renewable energy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart [43].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of articles published in the years 2013–2022.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Keywords co-occurrence map.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Sustainability cluster Authors’ Keywords.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Climate cluster Authors’ Keywords.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Digital Transformation cluster Authors’ Keywords.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Number of articles per country.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Number of papers per journal.
Figure 9
Figure 9
The total number of citations per paper.
Figure 10
Figure 10
The most popular subject categories.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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