{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T22:02:25Z","timestamp":1791237745356,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,25]],"date-time":"2022-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1645747200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Systems mapping methods are increasingly used to study complex public health issues. Visualizing the causal relationships within a complex adaptive system allows for more than developing a holistic and multi-perspective overview of the situation. It is also a way of understanding the emergent, self-organizing dynamics of a system and how they can be influenced. This article describes a concrete approach for developing and analysing a systems map of a complex public health issue drawing on well-accepted methods from the field of social science while incorporating the principles of systems thinking and transdisciplinarity. Using our case study on HIV drug resistance in sub-Saharan Africa as an example, this article provides a practical guideline on how to map a public health problem as a complex adaptive system in order to uncover the drivers, feedback-loops and other dynamics behind the problem. Qualitative systems mapping can help researchers and policy makers to gain deeper insights in the root causes of the problem and identify complexity-informed intervention points.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0264463","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,25]],"date-time":"2022-02-25T18:54:25Z","timestamp":1645815265000},"page":"e0264463","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Qualitative systems mapping for complex public health problems: A practical guide"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5083-9144","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anneleen","family":"Kiekens","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bernadette","family":"Dierckx de Casterl\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6594-2766","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anne-Mieke","family":"Vandamme","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0264463.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"600","DOI":"10.1111\/jep.12856","article-title":"Thinking about complexity in health: A systematic review of the key systems thinking and complexity ideas in health","volume":"24","author":"E Rusoja","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Eval Clin Pract"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref002","first-page":"272","article-title":"Evaluation of public health interventions from a complex systems perspective_ A research methods review _ Elsevier Enhanced Reader.pdf","author":"E McGill","year":"2021","journal-title":"Soc Sci Med"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2602","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)31267-9","article-title":"The need for a complex systems model of evidence for public health","volume":"390","author":"H Rutter","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"625","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.323.7313.625","article-title":"Complexity science: The challenge of complexity in health care","volume":"323","author":"PE Plsek","year":"2001","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-018-1057-z","article-title":"When complexity science meets implementation science: a theoretical and empirical analysis of systems change","volume":"16","author":"J Braithwaite","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/czr054","article-title":"Understanding pathways for scaling up health services through the lens of complex adaptive systems","volume":"27","author":"L Paina","year":"2012","journal-title":"Health Policy Plan"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref007","article-title":"Tackling Obesities: Future Choices\u2013Building the Obesity System Map","volume":"80","author":"P Vandenbroeck","year":"2007","journal-title":"Foresight"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref008","author":"C Decouttere","year":"2020","journal-title":"A Systems-Based Framework for Immunisation System Design: Six Loops, Three Flows, Two Paradigms"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref009","first-page":"1","article-title":"Applied systems thinking: A viable approach to identify leverage points for accelerating progress towards ending neglected tropical diseases","volume":"18","author":"J Glenn","year":"2020","journal-title":"Heal Res Policy Syst"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"438","DOI":"10.1093\/heapol\/czr055","article-title":"How to do (or not to do) \u2026 a social network analysis in health systems research","volume":"27","author":"K Blanchet","year":"2012","journal-title":"Health Policy Plan"},{"key":"pone.0264463.ref011","author":"C. 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