PUBH6003 Report: Applying Systems Thinking to Cancer in Public Health

This report applies systems thinking to the public health issue of cancer in America. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, then delves into the complexities of cancer from a systems thinking perspective, considering factors like quality of life, social support, demographic variables, and patient adjustment. The report identifies key stakeholders within and outside the health system, including healthcare professionals, legislators, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and patients, outlining their respective roles and responsibilities. It then explores obstacles hindering the effective application of systems thinking, such as a lack of shared vision, feedback delays, unhealthy policies, and fragmented health systems. Finally, the report proposes suggestions for overcoming these obstacles, including developing a shared vision, policy reform, creating a supportive environment, and strengthening the health system. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of systems thinking in addressing the challenges of cancer and improving patient outcomes. The report draws upon various sources, including books and journal articles, to support its analysis and recommendations.

Applying System
Thinking in Public
Health

Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................4
Public health issue from systems thinking perspective............................................................................4
Roles of stakeholder both within the health system and outside..............................................................5
Obstacles that prevent application of systems thinking...........................................................................6
Suggestions for overcoming the obstacles of the problems mentioned above.........................................7
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report has been prepared on public health by choosing a particular health issue in a specific
country selected for this purpose. Some of the elements included in this are various factors comprising
both direct and indirect which influence health issue, roles of different stakeholders affecting the health
system and other sectors, obstacles that create problem in implementing the system followed by
recommendations for the application of approach in order to find solution to the issue.

INTRODUCTION
Application of system thinking in public health means implementing various practical
approaches for strengthening health system with the application of system thinking. There may
be complex issues related to the health of people which require effective interventions for
understanding it better (Rivlin, 2015). When a health system is good and robust, the healthcare
professionals are better place to strengthening the system. This report has been drawn on very
common and highly spreading disease cancer and the selected country for this purpose is
America. This report covers describing public health issue from system thinking perspective,
roles of stakeholders, finding research evidence for obstacles and suggestions for the issues so
determined.
MAIN BODY
Public health issue from systems thinking perspective
People suffering from cancer are the patients having great complexity level in terms of a
healthcare system. There are many factors affecting this disease which have been explained
below:
Quality of life- Every person wish to lead a good and healthy life which is possible only
after opting for some healthy habits. This not only save people from cancer but also from other
diseases (Roberts, J. P and et. al., (2016). There are number of habits which should not be
included for leading a healthy life such as junk food, tobacco consumption, smoking, alcohol etc.
Social support- it is one of the most important factor based on system thinking. In this
factor, people who are diagnosed with the cancer need emotional support, reassurance of value,
social integration and similar support. However, people who are leading a normal life may not
feel the pain of those suffering from cancer hence, it makes a gap in the society.
Demographic and Illness related variables- As per the report of US government, about
43% of the men have been diagnosed with various types of cancer such as lung, prostate and
colorectal. Women accounted for 50% of all new cancer diagnoses made in 2020. This is enough
to show the growth of this health issue (Carey, G., and et. al., 2015).

Adjustment to cancer- It is a new thinking perspective for making this problem a main
concern and throwing lights on the mental pressure that a cancer patient feel vulnerable whole
time. It is important to support them in every possible way for keeping them motivated to
survive.
Routine checkup- Patients who are suffering from this disease should go for routine
checkup for keep the issue under the limit as without this, it will spread in the body at an extreme
rate causing the patient to die.
These are interrelated to each other and the level of complexity is huge as all the factors
call for extreme care and accuracy in finding the issue. This is imperative for the appropriate
solution and treatment to cure (Smiddy, M. P., and et. al., 2015).
Roles of stakeholder both within the health system and outside
Health care professionals- The management team of the health care unit has a role to
provide guidelines, resources allocation and taking care of daily management of the activities at
the organization. These people are responsible for taking care of the cancer patients in the
hospitals. US government provides various laws and regulations which are to be followed by
such individuals for ensuring the health of the patients.
Legislators- The legislative framework provided by the legislators are to be followed by
health care professionals for the safety and right treatment to them in order to removing the
cancer. It is the responsibility of such individuals to keep themselves updated with the latest laws
that will ensure the safety the patients. Also, the management is under the duty to develop
organizational policies according to these framework (Braithwaite, 2018).
Insurance companies- These agencies are the authorities which has the benefits from
well- organized and systematic co-operation among the entities, OHS providers and social
insurance officials. Since, cancer is a disease which requires huge money to cure it, it becomes
necessary to have sufficient backup. Hence, not every family in US can afford that much amount
of money for the treatment. Therefore, insurance companies come to the rescue of such patients
by giving them financial support by charging premium.
Pharmaceutical companies- These entities play a major role in keeping the health care
system well systemized. The medicines developed and sold by them are the main source of cure

on which the patients rely. The prices of the drugs are increasing with the time in US and well as
other parts of the world. These companies have the responsibility and should try to keep the
prices to a certain reasonable limit so that each classes of the country can afford them.
Patients- They are under an ethical responsibility by keeping good care of their health
which ultimately lead to low costs. They can make efforts to lead a healthy life by opting for the
choices which are going to keep them healthy and increase their life span. WHO has stopped
hiring personnel involved in smoking to reduce the costs.
Obstacles that prevent application of systems thinking
These are the obstacles which may create problems in successful application of system
thinking. The stakeholders involved in health care based on systematic thinking must detect these
obstacles which are mentioned underneath-
Lack of shared vision and leadership cooperation- Application Off a systematic
thinking in health care calls for setting of a vision together with a strong leadership. There may
be times when the people involved in the application process face mismanagement you too
disagreements. Also, it is shared or understood by every member involved in the application of
systematic thinking.
Feedback delay- When a patient when patient comes to the health care unit, it is required
for the professionals to ask for the feedback of the services and the treatment they have taken.
Any delay in such feedback may make the condition of the patient worse failing to implement
these systematic thinking approaches in the health care unit (May and et. al., 2018).
Lack of healthy policy- The health care professionals are required to work according to
the policies that the organization has formulated. These staff is under the obligation to carry the
treatment and other necessary activities as early policies set up by the management of the
organization. Healthy policy can be formulated with the help of all the people working in the
organization as their opinions are to be included in this.
Fragile and fragmented health system- The health system is often fragile and
fragmented which makes it difficult for the health professionals too conduct examinations and
carry the treatment according to various approaches based on systematic thinking. It’s not only
affect the health of the patients but also the overall application of systematic thinking approaches

within our health care organization. A disease like cancer needs to be treated with at most care
and in absence of a strong or robust health system, it becomes difficult to conduct the activities
properly.
Time constraints- Time is an important factor in determining the health of patient has
delay in the treatment of cancer patient may make the condition worse. There should be a
specified time limit within which the systematic thinking approaches should be implemented in
the organization to work accordingly.
Suggestions for overcoming the obstacles of the problems mentioned above
Developing Shared vision and leadership- The health care professional should from our
vision which is accepted by all the members and other stakeholders. Also one person who is
responsible enough to take care of everything should be chosen as the leader who will lead the
other members in taking care of cancer patients and reducing it to a greater level.
Policy change or reform- When our policy is not according to the people working in the
organization it should be changed with immediate effect. This can be done by conducting a
meeting with the healthcare professionals so that their opinions can be considered and a new
policy can be designed accordingly. Also, each member should Made understand about the
changes that took place in the existing policy.
Creating supportive environment- Environment keeping the health of patients intact. A
cancer patient goes through number of mental stress is another physical pain which need happy
and healthy environment to keep them motivated. Also, the people working in the organization
should also get all the benefits and rewards for their performance in order to keep them
encouraged to work with more efforts.
Strengthening and reorienting health system- The existing health system should be
transformed in such a way which make it more robust to perform the activities and increase the
number of cancer patients in the USA. There should be proper equipment, tools and
infrastructure to support the cancer survivors and those taking the treatment.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that a challenging issue like answer should get
the at most care and huge attention so that number of people suffering from this can be reduced.
Systematic thinking approaches can help the health care units to provide better treatment to all
the people suffering from this issue.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Rivlin, A. M. (2015). Systematic thinking for social action. Brookings Institution Press.
Roberts, J. P and et. al., (2016, March). A design thinking framework for healthcare management
and innovation. In Healthcare (Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 11-14). Elsevier.
Carey, G., and et. al., (2015). Systems science and systems thinking for public health: a
systematic review of the field. BMJ open, 5(12), e009002.
Smiddy, M. P., and et. al., (2015). Systematic qualitative literature review of health care workers'
compliance with hand hygiene guidelines. American journal of infection control, 43(3), 269-274.
Braithwaite, J. (2018). Changing how we think about healthcare improvement. bmj, 361.
May, C. R., and et. al.,(2018). Using normalization process theory in feasibility studies and
process evaluations of complex healthcare interventions: a systematic review. Implementation
Science, 13(1), 1-27.