Abstract
General Systems Theory (GST), as it was introduced by Karl Ludwig von Bertalannfy, had a significant, yet mostly unacknowledged influence on systems theory. The purpose of the current review is to highlight and assess the application of the aforementioned theory in the healthcare field and suggest a new approach to the public hearing healthcare sector. A systematic literature review has been conducted in the electronic databases of ScienceDirect, Pubmed and IEEEXplore covering the years of 2009-2019, following the PRISMA guidelines. The article selection was performed to identify GST-related frameworks in the healthcare field and was completed through a process of removing duplicates and non-available articles, analyzing the tittle and abstract, and then reviewing the full text of each selected article. In the final analysis, 47 studies were selected and were thoroughly analysed. Almost half of these articles showed a practical implementation of GST-inspired frameworks, following different types of research methodology. Analysis of these methodologies identified the limitations and positive effects of GST in the healthcare field. Although there is a significant number of references in GST in the healthcare field over the last 10 years, applications of it need to be further tested and explored before they are put into real-situation testing. Simulation models and evidence-based approaches on a micro-, meso- and macro-level of systems should be used to provide the contextual information needed for establishing GST as a driving force in the healthcare field. To this context, a paradigm of GST data framework applied to the hearing loss screening area is hereby presented and discussed. It is shown that a GST approach can be used to identify equilibria in all levels, to balance gain and prediction capacity over time and enhance public hearing health approaches for treatment and management strategies.
Highlights
The main research question of this study is to evaluate the application of General Systems Theory (GST), if any, in the healthcare field and identify the limitations and positive aspects of its practical application via the research methodology followed in its application
VOLUME 8, 2020 system∗ theory’’ and ‘‘health∗’’) was avoided as (a) ScienceDirect does not support the use of wildcards, so that would affect the common search criteria applied to the search engines and (b) it would yield a variety of results that are not relevant to General Systems Theory (e.g. ‘‘systemic’’ or ‘‘systematic’’), not providing answer to the research question of this study
Focus was given to recognizing whether a practical implementation of GST has taken place and in which healthcare field
Summary
A. RATIONALE The underlying principles of General Systems Theory (GST) as they were described by von Bertalanffy [1] should seem largely intuitive to system-related fields. Topics related to the application of GST in the healthcare field have received limited attention in research. The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Dominik Strzalka. GST can hint towards a holistic approach on healthcare related issues and problems, including those in the psychology and pharmacology field. The failure of linear models and reductionist approaches to explain variable outcomes for patients in several cases (e.g. neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal conditions) triggered researchers to look for explanations elsewhere
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