ABSTRACT
The adoption of the systems thinking approach and its derived tools give the advantage of enabling the practitioners to have a more complete and in-depth understanding of system dynamics in healthcare. Furthermore, the approach also provides a pathway for the identification of underlying root causes and selection of key issues, subsequently leading to refined system design or redesign incorporated with corresponding intervention measures. In recent decades, there have been reported examples of the adoption of systems thinking in the strengthening of health systems, as well as in other application areas including health management, research, and clinical practice. The World Health Organization published “Systems Thinking for Health Systems Strengthening” in 2009 to address the complexity of health systems and to design better interventions to strengthen systems, increase coverage and improve health. In this chapter, case studies and reports from different countries such as China and Canada, which are related to the applications of systems thinking approach in major health issues and related strategies, will be reviewed. In addition, knowledge in systems thinking with respect to the building blocks of the WHO health system framework and their application in achieving sustainable healthcare systems will be discussed with reference to SDG 3.
