ArticleBMC public health2020
Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies.
Article in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systems Leadership: a qualitative systematic review of advice for policymakers.Open research Europe · 2025Pooled it
- An adaptive, youth-centred co-design methodology: place-based co-design centring youth and community participation.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Maturity of Systemic Leadership Among District Health Management Teams in a Post-Conflict Context: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Kasai-Central Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2026Article
- 'It's about collaboration': a whole-systems approach to understanding and promoting movement in Suffolk.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Article
- Initiating systemic capacity development for leadership from the bottom-up: a realist evaluation of a leadership innovation in a South African health district.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Facilitator and Barrier to Health Information System Use from Health Professionals Perspective: A Scoping Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Review
- Hypothetical mechanisms driving physical activity levels in ethnic minority groups living in Europe: a systematically identified evidence-based conceptual systems model.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- Tackling physical inactivity and inequalities: implementing a whole systems approach to transform community provision for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Leadership in healthcare during a pandemic: for a systems leadership approach.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Opportunities to engage health system leaders in whole systems approaches to physical activity in England.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Effective leaders(hip) in community-academic health partnership projects: An inductive, qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Leadership for systems change: Researcher practices for enhancing research impact in the prevention of chronic disease.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Leadership in Nursing and Health Care in the Light of Complexity Thinking.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2022Article
- Rhetoric Versus Reality - Embedding a New Relationship Within Integrated Care Systems for Third Sector Organisations.International journal of integrated careArticle
- Global public health leadership: The vital element in managing global health crises.Journal of global healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background'Systems leadership' has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as 'systems thinking' and 'whole systems approaches.' It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective action, where no single organisation can control the outcomes. While there is a growing literature on the theory of systems leadership in a number of fields, there remains a lack of published empirical studies of public health systems leadership for professionals to learn from. The aim of the current project was to conduct cases studies in UK public health to provide empirical evidence on the nature of effective systems leadership practice.
methodsThree system leadership case studies were identified in the key domains of public health: health protection, healthcare public health and health improvement. A total of 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were thematically analysed to identify the components of effective systems leadership in each case and its impact.
resultsThe thematic analysis identified themes around 'getting started,' 'maintaining momentum' and 'indicators of success' in systems leadership. In terms of getting started, the analysis showed that both a compelling 'call to action' and assembling an effective 'coalition of the willing' are important. To maintain momentum, the analysis identified themes relating to system structure, culture and the people involved. Regarding culture, the main themes that emerged were the importance of nurturing strong relationships, curiosity and a desire to understand the system, and promoting resilience. The analysis identified three components that could be used as indicators of success; these were a sense of enjoyment from the work, resource gains to the system and shifts in data indicators at the population level.
conclusionsThis study has provided insight into the nature of systems leadership in public health settings in the UK. It has identified factors that contribute to effective public health systems leadership and offers a thematic model in terms of establishing a systems leadership approach, maintaining momentum and identifying key success indicators.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.