Handbook of Systems and Complexity in Health (PDF)

Joachim P Sturmberg MBBS, DORACOG, MFM, PhD, FRACGP I am Adjunct A/Prof of Monash University, Melbourne, and Conjoint A/Prof of General Practice in the Department of General Practice in the Department of General Practice, General Practice, The Newcastle University, Newcastle, Australia. I am a graduate from Lübeck Medical School, Germany, where I also completed my PhD. Since 1989 I work in an urban group practice on the NSW Central Coast, with a particular interest in the ongoing patient-centred care of patients with chronic disease and the elderly. In 1994 I started to pursue systems and complexity research with an inquiry into the effects of continuity of care on the care processes and outcomes. Since then my research has expanded and includes the areas of understanding the complex notion of health, health care and healthcare reform, showing that health is an interconnected multi-dimensional construct encompassing somatic, psychological, social and semiotic or sense-making domains, that health care has to embrace the patient's understanding of her health as the basis for effective and efficient care, and that an effective and efficient healthcare system ought to put the patient at the centre. I am joint chief editor of the Forum on Systems and Complexity in Medicine and Healthcare in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. Together with Carmel Martin and Jim Price I chair the Complexity SIG in WONCA.

Carmel C Martin MBBS, MSc, PhD, MRCGP, FRACGP, FAFPHM I am Visiting Academic Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College, Dublin, and an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. I am active in clinical general practice with a particular interest in chronic disease and illness and patient centered care and integrated care using information technology, informed by complex adaptive systems theories. I am an Australian medical graduate from the University of Queensland. I completed my Masters in

From the book reviews:“The book has appeal for health professionals including practitioners, educators, researchers, policy makers, and health administrators, as well as graduate students. … It acknowledges a new role for educators -- to shake up ideas and to introduce students to networks, connections, and the contexts in which health occurs -- to instill a passion for lifelong learning. These features set this book apart and make it a welcome addition to the healthcare policy literature.” (Carole Ann Kenner, Doody’s Book Reviews, January, 2015)