Implementation Science and Complexity Science at a Crossroads: Design Science for Social Justice and Public Health

A growing list of public health issues have been characterized as “wicked” problems with the call for new approaches to identifying system leverage points and ways to bring solutions to scale to improve population health. This has led to growing interest in complexity or systems science approaches to implementation science, especially as a way to advance health equity. This talk provides a brief overview of the intersection of implementation science and complexity science, critically reviews some of the trends in emerging research and interest in systems science, more recent interest in design thinking, and argues for a more focused program of design science research for advancing social justice and public health.

Peter S. Hovmand, PhD, MSW is a professor of general medicine, applied social science, and biomedical engineering at the Center for Community Health Integration, Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining Case Western Reserve, Dr. Hovmand was the founding director of the Brown School’s Social System Design Lab at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Hovmand’s research focuses on understanding the systems that underlie structural violence and participatory methods for engaging communities and organizations to advance equity through design driven innovation. Dr. Hovmand is the author of Community Based System Dynamics.