A System of Prevention: Applying a Systems Approach to Public Health

Abstract

Among public health and health care practitioners, there is growing understanding that individuals make choices about their health not in a vacuum but based on the social, physical, and economic environments surrounding them and the resources available to them. Furthermore, we know that we, as a society, have designed these environments and resource allocation processes and that those in turn can produce better or worse health outcomes. In recognition of this, some practitioners are turning toward systems thinking as a way of understanding the many sectors and factors that influence health, and as a strategy for influencing broad and sustained health interventions. In October 2018, Prevention Institute released System of Prevention, a book that uses graphic design to illustrate Prevention Institute’s framework for a systems approach to population health that can achieve health equity. The book draws upon learning in the primary prevention arena and presents it in an innovative format designed to be accessible to the many sectors outside of public health that collectively shape the social and community determinants of health. It aims to spark dialogue and catalyze collaboration among the sectors and stakeholders that can together work for a healthy and equitable future for all communities.