ArticleBMJ open2019
Mapping the use of soft systems methodology for change management in healthcare: a scoping review protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Using doughnut economics to structure whole-system thinking with multidisciplinary stakeholders - a soft systems approach.Urban transformations · 2026Article
- If things were simple, word would have gotten around. Can complexity science help us improve pediatric research?Pediatric research · 2025Review
- The National Paediatric Applied Research Translation Initiative (N-PARTI): using implementation science to improve primary care for Australian children with asthma, type 1 diabetes, and infections.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Creating pragmatic, rapid-cycle, evidence-based innovation: The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Delivery Science and Applied Research (DARE) program.Learning health systems · 2025Article
- Using the Soft Systems Methodology to Link Healthcare and Long-Term Care Delivery Systems: A Case Study of Community Policy Coordinator Activities in Japan.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Implementing and evaluating co-designed change in health.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2022Article
- A dynamic systems view of clinical genomics: a rich picture of the landscape in Australia using a complexity science lens.BMC medical genomics · 2021Article
- Change and improvement 50 years in the making: a scoping review of the use of soft systems methodology in healthcare.BMC health services research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIt is notoriously challenging to implement evidence-based care and to update and improve healthcare practices. One reason for the difficulty is the complexity of healthcare and the powerful influence of context on implementation and improvement efforts. Thus, there is a need for multifaceted, flexible change methods that takes these complexities into consideration. One approach that has the potential in this regard is soft systems methodology (SSM). However, little is known about how SSM has been applied in healthcare settings, making it difficult to assess the usefulness of SSM for implementation science or improvement research. The aim of the proposed scoping review is to examine and map the use and outcomes of SSM in healthcare. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The review will adapt the framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). Citations will be uncovered through a comprehensive database search of the peer-reviewed literature. Two reviewers will conduct a two-stage review and selection process where the titles/abstracts are examined followed by a screening of full texts of the selected citations. Reference lists of included citations will be snowballed to identify potential additional citations. Inclusion criteria are English language, peer-reviewed empirical papers focusing on the application of SSM in a healthcare setting. Both general information about the citations and information related to the objective of the review will be extracted from the included citations and entered into a data charting form. The extracted information will be reported in diagrams and tables and summarised to present a narrative account of the literature. The proposed review will provide information on the potential for using SSM to affect change in healthcare. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No primary data will be collected, and thus ethical permission is unnecessary. Dissemination of results include peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.