Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111757

Dawn Marie Jacobson, MD, MPH, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Lower Level, Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-453-8251, djacobso@osophs.dhhs.gov

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Public Health and Science, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides leadership for the development, monitoring, and achievement of Healthy People goals and objectives. In order to achieve these longitudinal objectives, the contribution and interaction of multiple determinants of health need to be identified, related to one another, and addressed through effective individual, community or population-level interventions. The health care system, the physical environment, behavioral choices, social support systems, genetics, and governmental policies can all act independently, or in concert, to influence the health and well-being of an individual.

A systems approach can integrate, map, and model these complex relationships and, using computer simulation, formally compare intermediate and long-term health outcomes when changing various leverage points within the system. Such models can provide a crucial link between scientific research, systems thinking, and the achievement of disease prevention and health promotion goals and objectives at the national, state, or local level.

This session will provide an overview of systems modeling approaches, including econometric, epidemiologic, and systems dynamic modeling. The strengths and limitations of each approach will be briefly addressed. Examples of how a systems approach can be used to establish disease prevention and health promotion objectives (such as those found within Healthy People), forecast the attainment of such objectives, prioritize effective interventions and investments, and direct policy development will be discussed. The ongoing development of an obesity prevention and treatment model within the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and its future policy and planning applications, will also be presented.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to
• Define a systems approach, the questions it addresses, and the components of a basic systems model.
• Understand the components, factors, and relationships that characterize an obesity prevention and treatment model
• Describe how a systems approach and modeling can be used to set reasonable intermediate and long-term public health objectives, such as those found in Healthy People.
• Describe how a systems approach can be used to select effective individual, community, and population-level interventions and direct disease prevention and health promotion policy development.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:


I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Public Health Strategic Planning: Methods and Madness

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA