ArticleHealth research policy and systems2023
The use of participatory systems mapping as a research method in the context of non-communicable diseases and risk factors: a scoping review.
Article in Health research policy and systems, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Participatory systems mapping: a review of population health research practice.Health research policy and systems · 2026Pooled it
- Assessing Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Activities in the Denver, Colorado, Metropolitan Area: Building on an Existing Network to Enhance Emphasis on Equity.American journal of public health · 2026Article
- Advancing systems thinking in implementation science: An epidemiologic perspective.Annals of epidemiology · 2026Article
- The Relationship Between Urban Characteristics and Non-Communicable Diseases-Conceptual Framework of the HORUS Project.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Article
- A study protocol for co-designing risk communication strategies for hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing among priority populations in Johannesburg district, Gauteng, South Africa.Discover public health · 2026Article
- Uncharted territory: system mapping of school-based mental health problem prevention.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Integrated methods for public health action tracking (IMPAcT): to understand and evaluate systems change in a public health context.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Mapping the interactions of critical factors in China's first-contact healthcare systems using causal loop diagrams.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Study design of 'PASIBO' - co-creation and development of a physical activity intervention to patients with inflammatory bowel disease.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- How can health be further integrated in urban development policymaking in the United Kingdom? A systems mapping approach.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Strategizing towards the future hospital: a systems thinking approach.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- A Human-Centred Co-Design Framework for Developing a Web-Based Platform to Engage With Rural Australian Communities: Addressing the Complex Issue of Healthy Food Access.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- Mature-Aged People in the Rural Health Workforce System: A Systems Modelling Approach.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- Involving national stakeholders in a systems approach to map drivers of childhood obesity and actions to prevent childhood obesity in Denmark: the Generation Healthy Kids Study.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- '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
- How Systems Mapping Can Be an Important Health Communication Tool.Journal of health communication · 2025Article
- System mapping to strengthen youth crisis response: findings from a multi-county California pilot.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Mapping complex public health problems with causal loop diagrams.International journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- A Systems Map of the Challenges of Climate Communication.Journal of health communication · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextParticipatory systems mapping is increasingly used to gain insight into the complex systems surrounding non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors.
objectivesTo identify and synthesize studies that used participatory systems mapping in the context of non-communicable diseases.
designScoping review. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2022. STUDY SELECTION: Studies that focused on NCDs and/or related risk factors, and included participants at any stage of their system's mapping process, were included. CATEGORIES FOR ANALYSIS: The main categories for analysis were: (1) problem definition and goal-setting, (2) participant involvement, (3) structure of the mapping process, (4) validation of the systems map, and (5) evaluation of the mapping process.
resultsWe identified 57 studies that used participatory systems mapping for a variety of purposes, including to inform or evaluate policies or interventions and to identify potential leverage points within a system. The number of participants ranged from 6 to 590. While policymakers and professionals were the stakeholder groups most often included, some studies described significant added value from including marginalized communities. There was a general lack of formal evaluation in most studies. However, reported benefits related mostly to individual and group learning, whereas limitations described included a lack of concrete actions following from systems mapping exercises.
conclusionsBased on the findings of this review, we argue that research using participatory systems mapping would benefit from considering three different but intertwined actions: explicitly considering how different participants and the power imbalances between them may influence the participatory process, considering how the results from a systems mapping exercise may effectively inform policy or translate into action, and including and reporting on evaluation and outcomes of the process, wherever possible.
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.