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Using the Principles of Complex Systems Thinking and Implementation Science to Enhance Maternal and Child Health Program Planning and Delivery

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Abstract

Traditionally, epidemiologic methodologies have focused on measurement of exposures, outcomes, and program impact through reductionistic, yet complex statistical modeling. Although not new to the field of epidemiology, two frameworks that provide epidemiologists with a foundation for understanding the complex contexts in which programs and policies are implemented were presented to maternal and child health (MCH) professionals at the 2012 co-hosted 18th Annual MCH Epidemiology Conference and 22nd CityMatCH Urban Leadership Conference. The complex systems approach offers researchers in MCH the opportunity to understand the functioning of social, medical, environmental, and behavioral factors within the context of implemented public health programs. Implementation science provides researchers with a framework to translate the evidence-based program interventions into practices and policies that impact health outcomes. Both approaches offer MCH epidemiologists conceptual frameworks with which to re-envision how programs are implemented, monitored, evaluated, and reported to the larger public health audience. By using these approaches, researchers can begin to understand and measure the broader public health context, account for the dynamic interplay of the social environment, and ultimately, develop more effective MCH programs and policies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, MS F-74, Chamblee, GA, 30341, USA

    Charlan D. Kroelinger & Violanda Grigorescu

  2. Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kristin M. Rankin

  3. Division of Services and Intervention Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    David A. Chambers

  4. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Ana V. Diez Roux

  5. Division of Family and Community Health Services, Ohio Department of Health, Columbus, OH, USA

    Karen Hughes

Authors
  1. Charlan D. Kroelinger
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  2. Kristin M. Rankin
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  3. David A. Chambers
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  4. Ana V. Diez Roux
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  5. Karen Hughes
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  6. Violanda Grigorescu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlan D. Kroelinger.

Additional information

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, or the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health.

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Kroelinger, C.D., Rankin, K.M., Chambers, D.A. et al. Using the Principles of Complex Systems Thinking and Implementation Science to Enhance Maternal and Child Health Program Planning and Delivery. Matern Child Health J 18, 1560–1564 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1586-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1586-9

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