Using Systems Thinking in State Health Policymaking: An Educational Initiative

In response to limited examples of opportunities for state policymakers to learn about and productively discuss the difficult, adaptive challenges of our health system, the Georgia Health Policy Center developed an educational initiative that applies systems thinking to health policymaking. We created the Legislative Health Policy Certificate Program – an in-depth, multi-session series for law-makers and their staff – concentrating on building systems thinking competen-cies and health content knowledge by applying a range of systems thinking tools: behavior over time graphs, stock and flow maps, and a system dynamics-based learning lab (a simulatable model of childhood obesity). Legislators were taught to approach policy issues from the big picture, consider changing dynamics, and explore higher-leverage interventions to address Georgia’s most intractable health challenges. Our aim was to determine how we could improve the policymaking process by providing a systems thinking-focused educational program for legislators. Over 3 years, the training program resulted in policy-makers’ who are able to think more broadly about difficult health issues. The program has yielded valuable insights into the design and delivery of policy-maker education that could be applied to various disciplines outside the legislative process

How Can a Community Pursue Equitable Health and Well-Being after a Severe Shock? Ideas from an Exploratory Simulation Model

Local communities sometimes face severe shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or economic recession, which inflict widespread harm, intensify injustice and test the ties that bind people together. A recent “Springboard” theory proposes a way to spring forward toward an equitable, thriving future by altering priorities among four structural drivers of population well-being: the extent of vital conditions, equity, urgent services capacity, and belonging and civic muscle. To explore the strategic implications of the Springboard theory, we developed the Thriving Together Model, a system dynamics simulation model that lets users play out alternative investment priorities and track changes over a decade as they try to maximize the number of people thriving and minimize suffering. The prototype model is exploratory, subject to further refinement and empirical support, but it has already sparked creative conversations among hundreds of changemakers who have interacted with it through an interactive theater. This paper presents the model’s structure, illustrative results, and tentative insights. The Thriving Together Model extends Ostrom’s Nobel Prize-winning work on shared stewardship by offering a general explanation about how stewards of a divided community can heal through a traumatic shock and spring forward toward a future with greater well-being and justice

Systems Thinking and Simulation Modeling to Inform Childhood Obesity Policy and Practice

Objectives: In 2007, 31.7% of Georgia adolescents in grades 9-12 were overweight or obese. Understanding the impact of policies and interventions on obesity prevalence among young people can help determine statewide public health and policy strategies. This article describes a systems model, originally launched in 2008 and updated in 2014, that simulates the impact of policy interventions on the prevalence of childhood obesity in Georgia through 2034.To learn more about the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and GHPC, visit https://aysps.gsu.edu/ and https://ghpc.gsu.edu</p

Using Systems Thinking in State Health Policymaking: An Educational Initiative

In response to limited examples of opportunities for state policymakers to learn about and productively discuss the difficult, adaptive challenges of our health system, the Georgia Health Policy Center developed an educational initiative that applies systems thinking to health policymaking. We created the Legislative Health Policy Certificate Program – an in-depth, multi-session series for law-makers and their staff – concentrating on building systems thinking competen-cies and health content knowledge by applying a range of systems thinking tools: behavior over time graphs, stock and flow maps, and a system dynamics-based learning lab (a simulatable model of childhood obesity). Legislators were taught to approach policy issues from the big picture, consider changing dynamics, and explore higher-leverage interventions to address Georgia’s most intractable health challenges. Our aim was to determine how we could improve the policymaking process by providing a systems thinking-focused educational program for legislators. Over 3 years, the training program resulted in policy-makers’ who are able to think more broadly about difficult health issues. The program has yielded valuable insights into the design and delivery of policy-maker education that could be applied to various disciplines outside the legislative process.To learn more about the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and GHPC, visit https://aysps.gsu.edu/ and https://ghpc.gsu.edu</p

Systems thinking and simulation modeling to inform childhood obesity policy and practice

Objectives: In 2007, 31.7% of Georgia adolescents in grades 9-12 were overweight or obese. Understanding the impact of policies and interventions on obesity prevalence among young people can help determine statewide public health and policy strategies. This article describes a systems model, originally launched in 2008 and updated in 2014, that simulates the impact of policy interventions on the prevalence of childhood obesity in Georgia through 2034.To learn more about the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and GHPC, visit https://aysps.gsu.edu/ and https://ghpc.gsu.ed

Using systems thinking in state health policymaking: an educational initiative

In response to limited examples of opportunities for state policymakers to learn about and productively discuss the difficult, adaptive challenges of our health system, the Georgia Health Policy Center developed an educational initiative that applies systems thinking to health policymaking. We created the Legislative Health Policy Certificate Program – an in-depth, multi-session series for law-makers and their staff – concentrating on building systems thinking competen-cies and health content knowledge by applying a range of systems thinking tools: behavior over time graphs, stock and flow maps, and a system dynamics-based learning lab (a simulatable model of childhood obesity). Legislators were taught to approach policy issues from the big picture, consider changing dynamics, and explore higher-leverage interventions to address Georgia’s most intractable health challenges. Our aim was to determine how we could improve the policymaking process by providing a systems thinking-focused educational program for legislators. Over 3 years, the training program resulted in policy-makers’ who are able to think more broadly about difficult health issues. The program has yielded valuable insights into the design and delivery of policy-maker education that could be applied to various disciplines outside the legislative process.To learn more about the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and GHPC, visit https://aysps.gsu.edu/ and https://ghpc.gsu.ed

Systems Thinking and Simulation Modeling to Inform Childhood Obesity Policy and Practice

Objectives: In 2007, 31.7% of Georgia adolescents in grades 9-12 were overweight or obese. Understanding the impact of policies and interventions on obesity prevalence among young people can help determine statewide public health and policy strategies. This article describes a systems model, originally launched in 2008 and updated in 2014, that simulates the impact of policy interventions on the prevalence of childhood obesity in Georgia through 2034. Methods: In 2008, using information from peer-reviewed reports and quantitative estimates by experts in childhood obesity, physical activity, nutrition, and health economics and policy, a group of legislators, legislative staff members, and experts trained in systems thinking and system dynamics modeling constructed a model simulating the impact of policy interventions on the prevalence of childhood obesity in Georgia through 2034. Use of the 2008 model contributed to passage of a bill requiring annual fitness testing of schoolchildren and stricter enforcement of physical education requirements. We updated the model in 2014. Results: With no policy change, the updated model projects that the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents aged ≤18 in Georgia would hold at 18% from 2014 through 2034. Mandating daily school physical education (which would reduce prevalence to 12%) and integrating moderate to vigorous physical activity into elementary classrooms (which would reduce prevalence to 10%) would have the largest projected impact. Enacting all policies simultaneously would lower the prevalence of childhood obesity from 18% to 3%. Conclusions: Systems thinking, especially with simulation models, facilitates understanding of complex health policy problems. Using a simulation model to educate legislators, educators, and health experts about the policies that have the greatest short- and long-term impact should encourage strategic investment in low-cost, high-return policies. </jats:sec