CSR in healthcare organizations: What are the contributions to public trust and organizational performance?

Abstract

In a context of crisis of the Moroccan health system and of citizen distrust, this article presents a critical literature review on the contributions of CSR in public health establishments. It seeks to understand how CSR can strengthen public trust and organizational performance, by relying on management theoretical frameworks, such as stakeholder theory, organizational legitimacy and responsible governance. The methodology relies on a review of 26 academic articles published between 2010 and 2025, analyzed according to an inductive thematic approach. The results show that CSR, when it is integrated into a global strategy, can improve user perception, engage health professionals, and organize ethical communication. However, limits remain namely the absence of models adapted to the Moroccan context, weak operationalization and absence of trust indicators. This research calls for a strengthening of contextualized CSR practices, for training of hospital managers and for more localized empirical research.