Can We Build an Evidence Base on the Impact of Systems Thinking for Wicked Problems?; Comment on “What Can Policy-Makers Get Out of Systems Thinking? Policy Partners’ Experiences of a Systems-Focused Research Collaboration in Preventive Health”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Abstract

The published literature on the application of systems thinking to influence policies and programs has grown in recent years. The original article by Haynes et al and the subsequent commentaries have focused on the upstream connection between capacity building for systems thinking and systems informed decision-making. This commentary explores the downstream connection between systems-informed decision-making and broader impacts on the health system, the health of the population and other economic and social benefits. Storytelling, systems-based syntheses and systems intervention principles are explored as approaches to strengthen the evidence base. For systems thinking to gain broader acceptance and application to complex health-related challenges, we need more of an evidence base demonstrating impact.

Keywords

References

  1. Haynes A, Garvey K, Davidson S, Milat A. What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners’ experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020;9(2):65-76. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.86
  2. Systems Thinking. The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre website. https://preventioncentre.org.au/resources/learn-about-systems/. Updated: 2015-2020. Accessed Septmber 28, 2020.
  3. Panel on Return on Investment in Health Research. Making an Impact: A Preferred Framework and Indicators to Measure Returns on Investment in Health Research.Ottawa, ON, Canada: Canadian Academy of Health Sciences; 2009.
  4. Boswell J, Baird J, Taheem R. The challenges of putting systems thinking into practice: Comment on "What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.92
  5. Sturmberg JP. Without systems and complexity thinking there is no progress - or why bureaucracy needs to become curious: Comment on "What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health." Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.45
  6. Nyström ME, Tolf S, Strehlenert H. Sense-making, mutual learning and cognitive shifts when applying systems thinking in public health - examples from Sweden: Comment on "What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health." Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.106
  7. Khan S. Overcoming barriers to applying systems thinking mental models in policy-making: Comment on "What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health." Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.50
  8. Holmes BJ. Can systems thinking become "the way we do things?" Comment on "what can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health." Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.70
  9. Lamont T. But does it work? Evidence, policy-making and systems thinking: Comment on "What can policy-makers get out of systems thinking? Policy partners' experiences of a systems-focused research collaboration in preventive health." Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.71
  10. Snowden D. Complex acts of knowing: Paradox and descriptive self-awareness. Journal of Knowledge Management. 2002;6:100-111.
  11. Rutter H, Savona N, Glonti K, et al. The need for a complex systems model of evidence for public health. Lancet. 2017;390(10112):2602-2604. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31267-9
  12. Greenhalgh T, Fahy N. Research impact in the community-based health sciences: an analysis of 162 case studies from the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework. BMC Med. 2015;13:232. doi:10.1186/s12916-015-0467-4
  13. Leykum LK, Pugh J, Lawrence V, et al. Organizational interventions employing principles of complexity science have improved outcomes for patients with Type II diabetes. Implement Sci. 2007;2:28. doi:10.1186/1748-5908-2-28
  14. Murphy NF, Quinn Patton M; the Homeless Youth Collaborative on Developmental Evaluation. Developing Evidence-Based Effective Principles for Working with Homeless Youth: A Developmental Evaluation. St. Paul, Minnesota: Otto Bremer Foundation;  2014.
  15. Johnston LM, Matteson CL, Finegood DT. Systems science and obesity policy: a novel framework for analyzing and rethinking population-level planning. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(7):1270-1278. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.301884
International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 10, Issue 6
June 2021
Pages 351-353

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 18 August 2020
  • Revise Date: 01 October 2020
  • Accept Date: 03 October 2020
  • First Publish Date: 14 October 2020

Share

How to cite

Statistics