Social innovations in healthcare provision: an analysis of knowledge types and their spatial context

Abstract

Peripheral regions face the challenge of ensuring adequate healthcare provision. As a solution to such challenges, social innovations are introduced. Knowledge exchange among diverse actors is a crucial component of successful social innovations in peripheral areas. However, little is known about the characteristics and the spatial context of knowledge in social innovations. We analyze micro-level knowledge dynamics in four social innovations in the healthcare sector of a Swiss mountain region. We distinguish three knowledge types according to the knowledge base approach: synthetic (practical and tacit), analytical (scientific and codified) and symbolic (semiotic and tacit). From innovation biographies and semi-structured interviews, we find that synthetic knowledge is the type used most throughout the social innovation process and that it is often combined with the other two knowledge types. Local actors and extra-local actors who are locally embedded contribute the most knowledge. The actors require a considerable number of craft and practical skills to apply their own analytical or symbolic knowledge, as well as to link these three knowledge types from different actors and spatial contexts. Social innovations combine locally and extra locally acquired synthetic knowledge with analytical and symbolic knowledge to solve peripheral healthcare challenges and to contribute to regional wellbeing.