Health Systems Through Crisis And Recovery a.y. 2026/2027

Background

Spurred by misrule, conflict, impoverishment, social upheavals, environmental degradation and displacement, crises multiple the world over. Shocks and stressors intersect, prolonging crises and thwarting recovery attempts. Health care – starved of capacity and resources - is unable to respond to old and new needs.

The complexity of these turbulent contexts poses daunting challenges to health workers – both national and international – who are called to provide health services and contribute to their recovery. The poor grasping of the context and of the health determinants at play has generated misconceived interventions resulting in fragmentation, waste and ineffectiveness.

This training programme intends to critically review this situation, in light of experiences gathered in an array of crises, past and present. This empirical foundation is used to suggest appropriate conceptual tools aimed at engaging effectively in uncertain and unstable settings.

The Course, held for the first time in 2005, has evolved substantially since then. It is actively kept in progress, by constantly updating its contents, introducing new study topics and materials, and inviting new experienced lecturers. The Course programme maintains a degree of flexibility to discuss in detail topics of particular interest to participants. The Course focuses on health issues, but it is open to professionals from other disciplines.

What Former Participants Say

Read the testimonials of other students who have completed the programme.

Course target

The Course focuses on health issues but it is also open to professionals from other disciplines. Applicants must have  a university degree or the equivalent of 3 years of relevant working experience. They must have a sound working knowledge of English.  

Training objectives

• Introduce and engage participants in a critical analysis of crisis-ridden contexts and of the health services available in them;

• Analyse and reflect upon the challenges and difficulties faced in producing and supplying health services in countries experiencing a conflict or recovering from one;

• Identify and discuss the main features and distortions of health services during chronic conflicts or recovery processes;

• Introduce participants to recovery processes, to the main challenges they pose and to the opportunities they provide to correct long-standing distortions and foster the emergence of effective, efficient, fair and sustainable health systems;

•  Introduce participants to the existing literature in these areas and stimulate their interest in conducting further research.

Faculty

The diversity of the trainers mirrors that of the participants. The faculty includes researchers, public health practitioners and social scientists. All have substantial field experience acquired in the contexts studied during the Course.

Teaching methods

The Course is taught in English. It is intensive in nature and demands from participants a pro-active attitude. Interaction with the trainers is encouraged using case studies and practical exercises. Ample space is devoted to testimonies and reflections drawn from the personal experience of trainers and trainees. Participants will conduct an in-depth analysis of a chosen distressed healthcare arena through the study of selected documents and group work. The study materials revolve around a variety of troubled situations, which include conflict-ridden countries and regions, as well as other crises. An exploration of the existing literature will complement each training session. Participants will receive a rich portfolio of selected documents. Participants are required to familiarise themselves with selected reading materials, which will be made available on-line in advance of the Course. This preparatory work requires at least 20 hours and has to be regarded as a precondition to the full fruition of the course.

Course programme

The Course content is updated and modified every year. These are some of the main topics regularly discussed:

• The crisis environment; international and humanitarian law; development, the aid system and its politics; aid management. Contributions of social sciences and other disciplines to health intelligence.

• Systems thinking applied to management practice, including communication, information analysis and responses of health systems to shocks and stressors.

• Health policy analysis, planning and financing. Private and informal healthcare provision. Evaluating interventions.

• Availability and utilisation of health-related resources: personnel, medicines, facilities, and their management.

• Health service delivery issues: controlling communicable diseases, serving marginalised communities, addressing demand-side barriers, improving quality of care.

• Contributing to the recovery of disrupted health systems, through analysis, research, negotiation, appraisal of options, forecasting and implementation.

Selection process

The course is open to a maximum of 30 participants. Two selection rounds will be held. Accepted applicants will be promptly informed by e-mail.

The application deadlines for the two selection rounds are set on the 15th of October 2026 (Early bird and VISA applicants) and the 25th of January 2027.

Applicants will be selected on the basis of the information provided in the on-line application form, in their CVs and, if the selection committee deems it appropriate, of a online interview.

In case of problems with the on-line procedure, please contact hscr@santannapisa.it.

Prospective participants who are citizens of non-EU member states and who reside outside Italy are strongly advised to apply as soon as possible and, if successful, to immediately contact the Italian Embassy or consular authorities in their country of residence in order to apply for a visa (for more info please see: https//vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en).

Course fee

• 1.900,00 Euro for participants sponsored by any organization or by their employer;

• 1.500,00 Euro for self-sponsored participants.

The fee includes attendance of all the lessons, the teaching material and the lunch on class days at the canteen.

An early bird discount is reserved for candidates applying before the 15th of October, 2026. 

For early birds, the course fee is:

• 1.500,00 Euro for participants sponsored by any organization or by their employer;

• 1.200,00 Euro for self-sponsored participants.

Scholarships

Selected applicants may apply for the partial waiver of the tuition fee by motivating their request in a detailed manner on their application form. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna reserves the right to determine the amount of each contribution and the awarding criteria.

Attendance certificate

At the end of the Course the Sant’Anna School will issue a certificate of attendance to the students who attended at least 80% of the lessons, and passed the assessment tests foreseen.

Photo © Swiss Red Cross, by Lieke Visser. Swiss Red Cross Supports Nomad Community in Sudan, 19 August 2010