Social responsibility in health science education: conceptual referents, values and suggestions for learning. A systematic review of the literature; [La responsabilité sociale en santé : référents conceptuels, valeurs et suggestions pour l'apprentissage. Une revue méthodique et systématique de la littérature]

Background: Some authors date the historical references of social accountability in health as far as the Hippocratic oath. The various terminologies and definitions in use highlight a specific understanding of the issue in terms of concepts, values and skills. Objective: The aim of this article was to contribute to the development, from various scientific sources, of a definition and content of social accountability in health to be used for training health personnel using the initial research question: what is a socially responsible clinician, researcher or health manager? Methods: A systematic literature review was used. Online bibliographic data sources namely Medline, Embase, EBM Reviews and Cochrane Library and more specifically the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ACP Journal Club, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Clinical Answers, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Methodology Register, Health Technology Assessment, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Ovid Medline® were searched. Results: Out of 1154 documents identified, 127 were analyzed. Social accountability primarily refers to taking into account the needs of communities. Up to 45% of the definitions and 40% of the values mentioned referred to those proposed by the WHO. Only two references mentioned environmental sustainability. Discussion and conclusion: A notion of social accountability in health integrating various engagements and concepts developed in the health sector, human relation values, professional skills and issues of economic account and sustainability is to be promoted. © 2022 SIFEM.