AJPH
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jun 12, 2008
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
AJPH.2007.129460v1
98/8/1382    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Resnicow, K.
Right arrow Articles by Page, S. E.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Resnicow, K.
Right arrow Articles by Page, S. E.
Related Collections
Right arrow Health Promotion
Right arrow Health Education
August 2008, Vol 98, No. 8 | American Journal of Public Health 1382-1389
© 2008 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.129460

FRAMING HEALTH MATTERS

Embracing Chaos and Complexity: A Quantum Change for Public Health

Kenneth Resnicow, PhD and Scott E. Page, PhD

Ken Resnicow is with the School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Scott E. Page is with the Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Ken Resnicow, Professor, University of Michigan, School of Public Health Department of Health Behavior & Health Education, 109 Observatory Street, Room 3867 SPH I, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029 (e-mail: kresnic{at}umich.edu).

Public health research and practice have been guided by a cognitive, rational paradigm where inputs produce linear, predictable changes in outputs. However, the conceptual and statistical assumptions underlying this paradigm may be flawed. In particular, this perspective does not adequately account for nonlinear and quantum influences on human behavior. We propose that health behavior change is better understood through the lens of chaos theory and complex adaptive systems. Key relevant principles include that behavior change (1) is often a quantum event; (2) can resemble a chaotic process that is sensitive to initial conditions, highly variable, and difficult to predict; and (3) occurs within a complex adaptive system with multiple components, where results are often greater than the sum of their parts.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by the American Public Health Association