Systems Approaches to Public Health: Navigating Complexity and Advancing Equity
A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Practice in Social Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 46
Special Issue Editors
Interests: health and social policy; systems reform; complexity science; inequality and social exclusion; child and family welfare; mixed-methods research
Interests: health and child protection social policy, systems approaches, complexity theory; realist evaluation, implementation of practice and policy and evaluation of complex interventions
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Public health challenges such as pandemics, climate change, chronic diseases, and health inequalities emerge from complex adaptive systems where social, technical, and biological factors interact. Systems thinking and complexity science offer richer ways to address these issues, moving beyond linear or siloed approaches that overlook the interconnectedness of system components. Yet, enthusiasm for systems science has outpaced its practical application. Few interventions have been implemented or evaluated through a systems lens, leaving agencies struggling to translate theory into action, particularly when it comes to embedding or advancing equity and attending to both the “hard” (infrastructure, data, and models) and “soft” (culture, trust, relationships, and values) dimensions of health systems.
This Special Issue seeks to move the field from thinking in systems to doing in systems. We invite contributions that use a systems approach to evaluate complex interventions, apply complexity frameworks in practice, and advance mixed and participatory methods. Submissions should show how systems thinking can embed or advance equity in health systems, whether through processes, structures, or outcomes. We hope that this Special Issue will serve as a resource for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers seeking to navigate uncertainty, mobilise systems-level change, and foster more resilient and equitable public health futures.
Possible topics of interest include the following:
- Innovations in evaluating complex public health interventions and systemic change to improve population health outcomes.
- Empirical studies applying complexity frameworks to address health inequalities, chronic disease management, or pandemic preparedness.
- Advances in system dynamics, agent-based models, network analysis, and hybrid and participatory methods applied to health systems or communities.
- Applications of soft systems approaches (trust, relationships, culture, leadership, and values) to strengthen collaboration and resilience in health systems.
- Cross-sectoral and socio-technical systems influencing health (e.g., housing, welfare, education, environment, and urban planning).
- Emergent behaviours and unintended consequences within health system reforms or interventions.
- Data-driven and digital systems approaches (big data and real-time analytics) for surveillance, service integration, or rapid response in public health.
- Equity, power, and structural determinants as systemic drivers shaping health outcomes and access to care.
- Resilience and adaptability of health systems to shocks such as pandemics, climate change, and economic crises.
- Reviews or conceptual advances linking systems thinking, health equity, and sustainability in policy and practice.
Dr. Sarah Parker
Dr. Louise Caffrey
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- complex adaptive systems
- systems thinking
- complexity science
- public health
- equity
- health systems
- evaluation
- implementation
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