Good morning,
I am considering embarking on a project for the Colorado Health Communities=
Initiative to investigate applications of system dynamics with community =
indicator projects. Is anyone aware of any community indicator projects =
that are using system dynamics tools to explore relationships between the =
indicators? Community indicator projects are based on heavy community =
involvement to decide on indicators of a communitys health. The goal is =
to develop a holistic picture of community health by looking at indicators =
that get at the root cause of issues such as crime, teen pregnancy, etc. =
There are approximately 200 community indicator projects around the =
country - Sustainable Seattle was one of the first projects - and many =
projects are now ready to assimilate the data into a more useable form. I =
think system dynamics would be very useful to help communities with =
scenario planning and to help stakeholders and policymakers make informed =
decisions on key community issues.
I also sent a message to the redefining progress listserve: rp-cinet@igc.or=
g.
If anyone has any information on communities that are using system =
dynamics, please let me know.
Thank you,
Amy Johnson
(303) 733-6154 (h)
(303) 739-7046 (w)
Amy_Johnson@maroon.cudenver.edu (home)
ajohnson@ci.aurora.co.us (work)
Use of System Dynamics for Community Indicator Projects
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"Amy Johnson"
- Newbie
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am
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GBHirsch@aol.com
- Junior Member
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am
Use of System Dynamics for Community Indicator Projects
A group of us working at Innovation Associates from 1995 to 1997 developed a
Health Care Microworld, a set of simulators that allow providers and community
members to examine different strategies for dealing with complex problems and
changes occurring in health care. The Microworld is also designed to be a
learning environment in which people can come to understand the value of
thinking systemically about health problems.
Part of this Microworld is a Health Status module that relates traditional
indicators such as the prevalence of chronic illness and rates of disability
to levels of Social Risk and Behavioral Risk. Teams work through a 20 year
simulation, investing a budget in combinations of interventions that help them
see the relative impacts of social, behavioral, public health, and medical
interventions on people in different age groups and on the population overall.
The Health Status module is based on data collected in surveys of 25 or so
communities relating health indicators to various social and behavioral risks
by the Public Health Resource Group. The module can be used with any of four
sets of data representing Large Urban, Small Urban, Rural, and Suburban
populations.
The module might be a good prototype of how these sorts of data can be put in
the hand of community groups to explore the relationships among indicators and
better understand the potential impact of various kinds of interventions.
Sessions in which the Microworld has been used have encouraged rich
discussions about how community programs and resources can make a difference
in affecting health problems. The existing module is general enough that it
could also provide a good learning tool for communities that want to better
understand the dynamics of health indicators and improvement of health status.
Id be happy to provide more information to people who are interested.
Gary Hirsch
GBHirsch@aol.com
Health Care Microworld, a set of simulators that allow providers and community
members to examine different strategies for dealing with complex problems and
changes occurring in health care. The Microworld is also designed to be a
learning environment in which people can come to understand the value of
thinking systemically about health problems.
Part of this Microworld is a Health Status module that relates traditional
indicators such as the prevalence of chronic illness and rates of disability
to levels of Social Risk and Behavioral Risk. Teams work through a 20 year
simulation, investing a budget in combinations of interventions that help them
see the relative impacts of social, behavioral, public health, and medical
interventions on people in different age groups and on the population overall.
The Health Status module is based on data collected in surveys of 25 or so
communities relating health indicators to various social and behavioral risks
by the Public Health Resource Group. The module can be used with any of four
sets of data representing Large Urban, Small Urban, Rural, and Suburban
populations.
The module might be a good prototype of how these sorts of data can be put in
the hand of community groups to explore the relationships among indicators and
better understand the potential impact of various kinds of interventions.
Sessions in which the Microworld has been used have encouraged rich
discussions about how community programs and resources can make a difference
in affecting health problems. The existing module is general enough that it
could also provide a good learning tool for communities that want to better
understand the dynamics of health indicators and improvement of health status.
Id be happy to provide more information to people who are interested.
Gary Hirsch
GBHirsch@aol.com