Applied Systems Thinking for Health Systems Research: a Methodological Handbook

Patient safety in health systems has become more and more important as a theme in health research, and so it is not surprising to see a growing interest in applying systems thinking to healthcare. However there is a difficulty - health systems are very complex and constantly adapting to respond to core drivers and fit needs. How do you apply systems thinking in this situation, and what methods are available? National health authorities, international donors and research practitioners need to know the "how-to" of conducting health systems research from a systems thinking perspective.

This book will fill this gap and provide a range of tools that give clear guidance of ways to carry out systems thinking in health, with real-world examples. These methodologies include:

- System dynamics and causal loops
- Network analysis
- Outcome mapping
- Soft systems methodology

And many more.

Written by an international team of experts in health research, this handbook will be essential reading for those working in or researching public health, health policy, health systems, global health, service improvement and innovation in practice..

"For those working in the health sector, the relevance and value of systems thinking as a concept is evident. However, operationalization of this concept has been a challenge. With this new book, health researchers have a detailed guide for applying system thinking tools in day-to-day operations to identify and solve issues related to health policy and systems."
Ghaffar Abdul, Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Switzerland

"This book is the first to present practical options for applying systems thinking to understand complexity in health systems. The editors compile an essential collection of practical tools for understanding complex problems and framing research questions, as well as for determining and managing related solutions. Each tool is presented through an accessible summary of the method and the theory upon which it is based, as well as a real-world example. It will be a valuable resource for teaching and practice."
Ligia Paina, PhD, Assistant Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA

"This keenly-awaited book offers a lucid and comprehensive discussion on how to research complex health systems. Health systems are facing a rapid change and increased complexity, with well-designed solutions often leading to unintended consequences. The book provides invaluable help in navigating this complexity and applying rigorous as well as pragmatic approaches to capturing dynamic interactions between system elements and causal loops. The authors op

Dr Don de Savigny is Professsor of Health Systems and Policies Research at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Switzerland. Don has taught and applied Systems Thinking approaches and methods in implementation research for health systems development in low- and middle-income countries for many years, particularly in Africa.Dr Karl Blanchet is Associate Professor on Health Systems Research and the Director of the Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Karl has applied Systems Thinking approaches, Social Network Analysis and Systems Dynamics Methods to understand how health systems react and adapt to shocks such as armed conflicts or diseases outbreaks.Dr Taghreed Adam is a Scientist in Research and Knowledge Uptake at the World Health Organization, Geneva. Taghreed has supported the empirical application and publication of systems thinking approaches in health systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in two journal series and applied systems thinking approaches in health systems research in various LMIC settings.