z-logo
Premium
Translating systems thinking into practice for community action on childhood obesity
Author(s) -
Allender Steven,
Brown Andrew D.,
Bolton Kristy A.,
Fraser Penny,
Lowe Janette,
Hovmand Peter
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
obesity reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.845
H-Index - 162
eISSN - 1467-789X
pISSN - 1467-7881
DOI - 10.1111/obr.12865
Subject(s) - stakeholder , public relations , systems thinking , psychological intervention , health promotion , citizen journalism , government (linguistics) , participatory action research , action (physics) , knowledge management , process management , business , political science , sociology , health care , computer science , medicine , nursing , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , linguistics , philosophy , anthropology , law
Summary We report on the first 18 months of two communities' efforts using methods inspired by community‐based participatory system dynamics for the development, implementation, and evaluation of whole of community efforts to improve the health of children. We apply Foster‐Fishman's theoretical framework for characterizing systems change to describe the initiatives. Bounding the system began with defining leaders more broadly than standard health interventions to be those who had the ability to change environments to improve health, including food retailers, government, and business, and using high‐quality childhood monitoring data to define the problem. Widespread access to junk food, barriers to physical activity, and efforts to promote health predominantly through programmatic approaches were identified as potential root causes. System interactions existed in the form of relationships between stakeholder groups and organizations. The approach described built new relationships and strengthened existing relationships. Willingness in taking risks, changing existing practice, and redesigning health promotion work to have a community development focus, were levers for change. This approach has resulted in hundreds of community‐led actions focused on changing norms and environments. Insights from this approach may be useful to support other communities in translating systems theory into systems practice. Further empirical research is recommended to explore the observations in this paper.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here