Systems Approaches to Population Health

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Systems Approaches to Population Health
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Activities Supported by NCI
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Initiative on the Study and Implementation of
Systems (ISIS)

• Objective to apply systems thinking approaches
  and methodologies to tobacco prevention and
  control
• system dynamics modeling
• network development, implementation, and analysis
• knowledge management/informatics.

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ISIS Products

• 18 peer-reviewed journal articles
• two white papers
• six technical reports
• NCI Tobacco Control Monograph
• 41 presentations
• 11 workshops

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ISIS Products

• four collaborative networks
• prototype Web 2.0 collaborative online workspace
• systems dynamics model of tobacco control
• new measures of transdisciplinary collaboration
• two network mapping projects

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Greater than the Sum Systems Thinking in Tobacco
Control. NCI TC Monograph No. 18
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Complex System Approaches to Population Health
(May 2007)

• NIH sponsors -- NCI, OBSSR, and NICHD
• University of Michigan School of Public Health
• University of Michigan Center for the Study of
  Complex Systems

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Tobacco Modeling Workshop (May 2008) -- Objectives

• produce an inventory of the modeling work that
  currently exists in tobacco research
• identify what questions those models are able to
  answer
• explore opportunities for enhancing and improving
  the existing models
• explore the possibility of synergies among
  different modeling approaches
• identify areas in which further modeling work is
  needed to advance the tobacco control agenda

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A Comprehensive System Dynamics Model of Tobacco
Control 
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Concept Mapping Logic Model
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Tobacco Surveillance, Epidemiology, and
Evaluation Network (TSEEN) -- Objectives

• identify and fill important gaps in tobacco
  surveillance
• stimulate methodological research to improve
  validity and reliability of measures
• improve coordination and sharing of information
  among those who conduct and use the products of
  surveillance
• Increase transdisciplinarity of the research
  conducted
• maximize utilization of surveillance data to
  inform public health practice and policy and
  accelerate reduction of tobacco-attributable morbi
  dity and mortality

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Tobacco Harm Reduction Network (THRN) --
Objectives

• provide expertise and advice on tobacco harm
  reduction to policy makers, researchers and
  consumers
• develop a comprehensive strategy, including
  priority research areas, for assessing the impact
  of products and methods which may reduce exposure
  and harm from tobacco use
• coordinate the development of data repository,
  process for data sharing, and guidance on
  analysis, synthesis, and interpretation of data

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The Global Tobacco Research Network (GTRN)

• An international partnership committed to
  enhancing global tobacco control research by
  improving access to information,
  mentorship/training opportunities, and
  collaboration among organizations.

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Population Sciences Grid (PopSciGrid)

• A web-based infrastructure to improve the
  sharing, analysis, and dissemination of cancer
  control and population sciences data
• First prototype workspace is for tobacco

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Population Sciences Grid (PopSciGrid)
Objectives

• improve access to and usability of tobacco data
  from multiple sources
• encourage the greater use of multiple datasets
• enable methodological studies of differences in
  estimates of tobacco use behavior or in findings
  about the effectiveness of tobacco prevention and
  control interventions
• allow more sophisticated multilevel theory
  building, conceptualization, and analyses
• encourage tobacco research to be more
  collaborative and transdisciplinary

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Population Sciences Grid (PopSciGrid)
Objectives

• enhance mentoring and training opportunities
• increase the coordination of efforts among
  multiple stakeholders
• decrease the time it takes to translate research
  into practice and policy
• Decrease response time of public health
  infrastructure to changes in local, state, and
  national tobacco control conditions (rapid
  response surveillance system)
• enable more efficient and effective resource
  allocation

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Quantification of the Degree of
Transdisciplinariness in the THRN 

• Strength of Interdisciplinary Ties Strength of
  Transdisciplinary Ties

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Social Network Mapping of Tobacco Control Efforts
within DHHS 
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DHHS Obesity Network Mapping Project

• Objective to map the nutrition, physical
  activity, and obesity control leadership and
  activities within the Department of Health and
  Human Services (DHHS)
• Potential items to measure relational content
  include
• actor recognition
• contact among actors
• linkages among actors

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Ultimate Rationale

• Decreased funding for tobacco control programs
  and activities at the state level and decreased
  funding for research at the national level have
  threatened decades of progress in battling the
  number one public health problem in the United
  States. The new funding realities increase the
  need for strategic thinking and planning about
  how scarce resources can be allocated to have the
  greatest positive impact on public health.

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Ultimate Benefit

• Strategic use of limited resources and better
  coordination of efforts among different
  stakeholders will lead to more effective
  interventions and improved public health
  outcomes. A systems framework and approach most
  effectively identifies and exploits linkages and
  synergies within the tobacco control and public
  health research and practice communities.

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Thats All Folks, for Now

• Thanks
• Contact me at marcusst_at_mail.nih.gov