Viewing the global health system as a complex adaptive system – implications for research and practice

Josephine Borghi*, Sharif Ismail, James Hollway, Rakhyun E. Kim, Joachim Sturmberg, Garrett Brown, Reinhard Mechler, Heinrich Volmink, Neil Spicer, Zaid Chalabi, Rachel Cassidy, Jeff Johnson, Anna Foss, Augustina Koduah, Christa Searle, Nadejda Komendantova, Agnes Semwanga, Suerie Moon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The global health system (GHS) is ill-equipped to deal with the increasing number of transnational challenges. The GHS needs reform to enhance global resilience to future risks to health. In this article we argue that the starting point for any reform must be conceptualizing and studying the GHS as a complex adaptive system (CAS) with a large and escalating number of interconnected global health actors that learn and adapt their behaviours in response to each other and changes in their environment. The GHS can be viewed as a multi-scalar, nested health system comprising all national health systems together with the global health architecture, in which behaviours are influenced by cross-scale interactions. However, current methods cannot adequately capture the dynamism or complexity of the GHS or quantify the effects of challenges or potential reform options. We provide an overview of a selection of systems thinking and complexity science methods available to researchers and highlight the numerous policy insights their application could yield.   We also discuss the challenges for researchers of applying these methods and for policy makers of digesting and acting upon them. We encourage application of a CAS approach to GHS research and policy making to help bolster resilience to future risks that transcend national boundaries and system scales.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1147
JournalF1000Research
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Medical Research Council [no. MR/R013454/1] grant to Josephine Borghi Leverhulme Trust [no. IF-2021-038] grant to Josephine Borghi Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellowship [no 215654/Z/19/Z], grant to Sharif Ismail. European Research Council Starting Grant (agreement no. 949252) to Rakhyun E. Kim.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022 Borghi J et al.

Keywords

  • complex adaptive system
  • global health system
  • health system

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