Systems thinking expanding in the health field?

Like in most fields there is no shortage of systemic health issues that would benefit from attention by practitioners and researchers well versed in Systems Thinking in Practice (STiP). It is thus good to discern a trend of increasing interest and application of STiP in the health field.  Take this paper for example:

Rethinking health systems strengthening: key systems thinking tools and strategies for transformational change

1. R Chad Swanson¹,*,
2. Adriano Cattaneo²,
3. Elizabeth Bradley³,
4. Somsak Chunharas⁴,
5. Rifat Atun⁵,
6. Kaja M Abbas⁶,
7. Korina Katsaliaki⁷,
8. Navonil Mustafee⁸,
9. Benjamin Mason Meier⁹ and
10. Allan Best¹⁰

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA, ²Health Services Research and International Health, Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Trieste, Italy, ³Yale School of Public Health, Global Health Leadership Institute, New Haven, CT, USA, ⁴National Health Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand, ⁵Imperial College Business School and Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK, ⁶Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, ⁷International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece, ⁸Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK, ⁹University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA and ¹⁰Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

1. ↵*Corresponding author. Brigham Young University, 1668 North 1590 West, Provo, UT 84604, USA. 

 Abstract

While reaching consensus on future plans to address current global health challenges is far from easy, there is broad agreement that reductionist approaches that suggest a limited set of targeted interventions to improve health around the world are inadequate. We argue that a comprehensive systems perspective should guide health practice, education, research and policy. We propose key ‘systems thinking’ tools and strategies that have the potential for transformational change in health systems. Three overarching themes span these tools and strategies: collaboration across disciplines, sectors and organizations; ongoing, iterative learning; and transformational leadership. The proposed tools and strategies in this paper can be applied, in varying degrees, to every organization within health systems, from families and communities to national ministries of health. While our categorization is necessarily incomplete, this initial effort will provide a valuable contribution to the health systems strengthening debate, as the need for a more systemic, rigorous perspective in health has never been greater.

My colleague Helen Wilding advises that Chad Swanson has recently been working with a group of interns to disseminate the potential of systems thinking to build capacity in global health.  They received funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to do this. They are planning a social media launch (facebook, twitter, a blog and LinkedIn) and are also preparing a number of 'white papers'.

Their website/blog is up and running.  

I wish them well