Exploring Leadership in Health Sector Nonprofits in Non-Western Context

Abstract

Objective And Importance of Study: This scoping review examines leadership within healthcare nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in non-Western contexts, addressing a key research gap in healthcare leadership literature. In resource-limited regions, NPOs support public health, compensating for limited government infrastructure and resources.

Study Type And Method: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the review synthesizes peer-reviewed literature on healthcare leadership in NPOs from the past decade.

Results And Analysis: Three primary themes emerge - leadership styles, community health leadership, and leadership challenges. Transformational, servant, collective, and shared leadership styles are highlighted for their contribution to fostering collaboration, decentralizing decision-making, and enhancing organizational performance in achieving health outcomes. The review also underscores the importance of leadership in empowering communities through participatory processes, with Community Health Workers (CHWs) playing a pivotal role in driving health initiatives. However, the analysis identifies systemic challenges such as gender inequality, resource constraints, and power imbalances, which undermine effective leadership and the sustainability of healthcare programs in low-resource settings. The review also highlights a Western bias in the literature and calls for more empirical leadership research focused on non-Western regions and their sub-regional differences.

Conclusion: The review emphasizes the critical role of leadership in healthcare NPOs in non-Western contexts, advocating for further exploration of context-specific leadership strategies to improve health outcomes and system performance.