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".

Sobia Khan

doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.50

Abstract

Systems thinking provides the health system with important theories, models and approaches to understanding and assessing complexity. However, the utility and application of systems thinking for solution-generation and decision-making is uncertain at best, particularly amongst health policy-makers. This commentary aims to elaborate on key themes discussed by Haynes and colleagues in their study exploring policy-makers’ perceptions of an Australian researcher-policy-maker partnership focused on applications of systems thinking. Findings suggest that policy-makers perceive systems thinking as too theoretical and not actionable, and that the value of systems thinking can be gleaned from greater involvement of policy-makers in research (ie, through co-production). This commentary focuses on the idea that systems thinking is a mental model that, contrary to researchers’ beliefs, may be closely aligned with policy-makers’ existing worldviews, which can enhance adoption of this mental model. However, wider application of systems thinking beyond research requires addressing multiple barriers faced by policy-makers related to their capability, opportunity and motivation to action their systems thinking mental models. To make systems thinking applicable to the policy sphere, multiple approaches are required that focus on capacity building, and a shift in shared mental models (or the ideas and institutions that govern policy-making).

Highlights

The complexity of the health system is perplexing to those working within it and is a system characteristic that many have long grappled with
Actors within a system perceive complexity when there is a high degree of uncertainty, with no clear potential solutions.[2]
How can we support policy-makers in complex health systems? In their study, Haynes et al[5] state that “people make sense of the world given what they know so, without a compelling rationale [to adopt systems thinking], we tend to hold on to established mental models and avoid the disruption of seeing the world in radical new ways.”. This statement assumes that systems thinking is strongly divergent from the existing mental models that policy-makers hold about their world

Summary

Introduction

The complexity of the health system is perplexing to those working within it and is a system characteristic that many have long grappled with. Mental models are important because they can shape individual behaviour.[6] When mental models are collective or shared, they govern social and political ideas and institutions.[3] In order to be able to make decisions in an uncertain (complex) environment, policy-makers require mental models to help them understand the problem; they identify potential solutions and understand the possible outcomes of those solutions in their decision-making processes.[6]

Results

Conclusion