08 October 2026

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Home Covid-19 Systems thinking for health emergencies: use of process mapping during outbreak response

Systems thinking for health emergencies: use of process mapping during outbreak response

Summary:

  • There is little to no published research on process mapping being conducted during health emergen-cies to improve the current outbreak response.
  • Our research shows that despite the chaos and complexities associated with emerging pathogen outbreaks, process mapping can address immediate response priorities while simultaneously strengthening components of a health system.
  • This methodology could be applied to any country that has an outbreak, including COVID-19 cases.
  • There is an acute need in the global health community to respond to disease outbreaks in a way that effectively uses limited resources.
  • This is a user-friendly and low-cost methodology that can be implemented during any time point of an outbreak, including during preparedness and readiness activities.
  • Future operational and implementation research focussed on using process mapping and other applied system methodologies during outbreaks should be conducted.

 

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