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Place and Health as Complex Systems

A Case Study and Empirical Test

  • Book
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Brian Castellani

    1. Kent State University, Ashtabula, USA

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  2. Rajeev Rajaram

    1. Kent State University, Ashtabula, USA

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  3. J. Galen Buckwalter

    1. Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern California, Playa Vista, USA

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  4. Michael Ball

    1. Kent State University, Ashtabula, USA

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  5. Frederic Hafferty

    1. Program in Professionalism and Ethics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

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  • Rigorously examines the utility of complex systems theory to the study of place and health
  • Synthesizes the latest cutting-edge methods in the "complexities of place" literature into a cohesive methodological framework
  • Introduces the Definitional Test of Complex Systems (DTCS) and the SACS Toolkit as frameworks for studying places and their health as complex systems
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Public Health (BRIEFSPUBLIC)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. The Complexities of Place Approach

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 1-9

  3. Definitional Test of Complex Systems

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 11-13

  4. Case-Based Modeling and the SACS Toolkit

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 15-26

  5. Methods

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 27-34

  6. Places Are Complex

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 35-37

  7. Places Are Emergent and Self-Organizing

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 39-45

  8. Places Are Nodes within Larger Networks

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 47-49

  9. Places Are Dynamic and Evolving

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 51-54

  10. Places Are Nonlinear

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 55-57

  11. Places Are Subjective and Historical

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 59-61

  12. Places Are Open-Ended with Fuzzy Boundaries

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 63-65

  13. Places Are Power-Based Conflicted Negotiations

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 67-68

  14. Places Are Agent-Based

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 69-74

  15. Conclusion

    • Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty
    Pages 75-76

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 77-82
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Keywords

About this book

The history of public health has focused on direct relationships between problems and solutions: vaccinations against diseases, ad campaigns targeting risky behaviors. But the accelerating pace and mounting intricacies of our lives are challenging the field to find new scientific methods for studying community health. The complexities of place (COP) approach is emerging as one such promising method.

 

Place and Health as Complex Systems demonstrates how COP works, making an empirical case for its use in for designing and implementing interventions. This brief resource reviews the defining characteristics of places as dynamic and evolving social systems, rigorously testing them as well as the COP approach itself. The study, of twenty communities within one county in the Midwest, combines case-based methods and complexity science to determine whether COP improves upon traditional statistical methods of public health research. Its conclusions reveal strengths and limitations of the approach, immediate possibilities for its use, and challenges regarding future research. Included in the coverage:

 

  • Characteristics of places and the complexities of place approach.
  • The Definitional Test of Complex Systems.
  • Case-based modeling using the SACS toolkit.
  • Methods, maps, and measures used in the study.
  • Places as nodes within larger networks.
  • Places as power-based conflicted negotiations.

 

Place and Health as Complex Systems brings COP into greater prominence in public health research, and is also valuable to researchers in related fields such asdemography, health geography, community health, urban planning, and epidemiology.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Kent State University, Ashtabula, USA

    Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, Michael Ball

  • Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern California, Playa Vista, USA

    J. Galen Buckwalter

  • Program in Professionalism and Ethics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

    Frederic Hafferty

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Place and Health as Complex Systems

  • Book Subtitle: A Case Study and Empirical Test

  • Authors: Brian Castellani, Rajeev Rajaram, J. Galen Buckwalter, Michael Ball, Frederic Hafferty

  • Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Public Health

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09734-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2015

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-09733-6Published: 20 March 2015

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-09734-3Published: 24 February 2015

  • Series ISSN: 2192-3698

  • Series E-ISSN: 2192-3701

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 82

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Public Health, Complexity, Complex Systems, Human Geography, Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems

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