Evidence on Scaling in Health and Social Care: An Umbrella Review

Policy Points

• More rigorous methodologies and systematic approaches should be encouraged in the science of scaling. This will help researchers better determine the effectiveness of scaling, guide stakeholders in the scaling process, and ultimately increase the impacts of health innovations.
• The practice and the science of scaling need to expand worldwide to address complex health conditions such as noncommunicable and chronic diseases.

• Although most of the scaling experiences described in the literature are occurring in the Global South, most of the authors publishing on it are based in the Global North. As the science of scaling spreads across the world with the aim of reducing health inequities, it is also essential to address the power imbalance in how we do scaling research globally.