Related Experiment Videos
Healthcare's wicked questions: A complexity approach
1Concord Hospital Family Health Center.
Insights
Healthcare challenges require embracing complexity and complex adaptive systems. Asking "Wicked Questions" helps expose assumptions to navigate the U.S. health care system
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Systems Thinking
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- The previous column differentiated simple, complicated, and complex problems in healthcare.
- Healthcare systems are increasingly recognized as complex adaptive systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To encourage embracing complexity in healthcare to influence its future state.
- To introduce "Wicked Questions" as a tactic for engaging with complex adaptive systems.
Main Methods:
- Discussion of the concept of complex adaptive systems in healthcare.
- Definition and application of "Wicked Questions" to expose underlying assumptions.
- Exploration of specific Wicked Questions relevant to the U.S. healthcare system.
Main Results:
- Wicked Questions can reveal hidden assumptions shaping actions and choices within healthcare.
- Understanding complexity is crucial for addressing current healthcare challenges.
Conclusions:
- Embracing complexity and utilizing "Wicked Questions" offers a path forward for healthcare.
- Further exploration of complex adaptive systems is recommended for healthcare innovation.
Abstract:
The previous President's Column explored Glouberman and Zimmerman's (2002) differentiation of complex problems versus those that fall under the domains of simple or complicated, concluding with an invitation to enter the fray for health care's future state (Valeras, 2019). In this second column on the subject of complexity, the author invites us to continue to explore the topic of complexity and embrace it within health care, rather than shy away from it, in order influence the future state. One tactic, when engaging with a complex adaptive system, is to ask Wicked Questions. Williamson (2015) defines Wicked Questions as what is used to to expose the assumptions which shape our actions and choices. Some of the Wicked Questions that can be asked regarding the U.S. health care system are discussed. Exploring complexity and complex adaptive systems may provide the way forward for the challenges we face in health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).