Handbook of Systems and Complexity in Health

Download or read book Handbook of Systems and Complexity in Health written by Joachim P Sturmberg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-01-09 with total page 941 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an introduction to health care as a complex adaptive system, a system that feeds back on itself. The first section introduces systems and complexity theory from a science, historical, epistemological, and technical perspective, describing the principles and mathematics. Subsequent sections build on the health applications of systems science theory, from human physiology to medical decision making, population health and health services research. The aim of the book is to introduce and expand on important population health issues from a systems and complexity perspective, highlight current research developments and their implications for health care delivery, consider their ethical implications, and to suggest directions for and potential pitfalls in the future.