How Systems Mapping Can Be an Important Health Communication Tool

Many health and public health issues involve heterogeneous factors and processes that interact with one another and combine to form complex systems that make them challenging to communicate to the public. Words alone often aren't enough to communicate what's happening with a complex system, which is where and how visualizations can play an important role. A systems map is one such visualization tool that can be useful as it graphically shows the different components that make up a complex system and their relationships with one another. While systems mapping is not new as a concept or tool and in fact is used in other fields, its potential for health and public health communications still remains largely untapped. There is a series of sequential steps to follow to develop a systems map for health communications that allows for various perspectives to be included and minimizes bias, setting up a process to create a fuller representation of the system. Future directions of systems mapping for public health communications should leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual and extended reality (VR/XR) to further advance the usefulness systems mapping can have to improve our understanding of complex systems in public health and better communicate them to the public.