Health service resilience in Yobe state, Nigeria in the context of the Boko Haram insurgency: a systems dynamics analysis using group model building

Alastair Ager, Martina Lembani, Abdulaziz Mohammed, Garba Mohammed Ashir, Ahmad Abdulwahab, Helen de Pinho, Peter Delobelle and Christina Zarowsky

Conflict and Health 2015 9:30 DOI: 10.1186/s13031-015-0056-3

This paper describes findings from a case study on the health system in Yobe state in northern Nigeria during the Boko Haram insurgency, part of the ReBUILD affiliate project on Health Systems Resilience: A Systems Analysis.

Yobe State has faced severe disruption of its health service as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency. In this research, a systems dynamics analysis was conducted, using participatory group model building, to identify key pathways of threat to provision and emerging pathways of response and adaptation.

The paper concludes that the approach provided a mechanism to identify key pathways of threat and adaptation with regard to health service functioning. Generalizable systems characteristics supportive of resilience are suggested, and linked to wider discussion of the role of factors such as diversity, self-regulation and integration.

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