Training

Strategic Skills Training Series: Introduction to Systems Thinking

Course Objective

By the end of this module, you should know how to:

  • Consider events, patterns, and structures related to a complex problem
  • Explain what a complex adaptive system is
  • Explain how mental models impact the way we perceive a problem
  • List some key systems thinking habits to develop

…and see how you can incorporate these concepts in your practice to address a major public health crisis.

The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health practitioners to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist. The modules in this series use the community health improvement planning process to introduce you to the basics of the following four strategic skills areas. This first set of modules have been developed at an introductory level; the next part of the series will build on these foundational modules.

To help you think about ways to leverage these skills in your journey as a Chief Health Strategist to address real world problems in your community, the modules will utilize a case study approach, set in the fictitious Tycho County.

Follow how the Tycho County Health Department could adopt a systems approach to inform its thinking and planning while developing a community health improvement plan focused on a familiar public health problem, opioid misuse.

In this module, you will learn how to identify the characteristics of a system in a public health context.

Region 2 Public Health Training Center