A Systematic Review on Systems Mapping in Environmental Health

Abstract

Environmental health, a sector of public health that has received recent attention, often focuses on identifying a solution or intervention to prevent environmental issues from impacting humans, such as climate change, poor water quality, tropical diseases, etc. Systems mapping is an emerging tool that has the potential to help environmental researchers and policymakers visualize relationships within a system by looking at its root causes and determining informed interventions. The research question in this paper examines the unexplored topic of how systems mapping is approached in environmental health studies. Systems mapping uses a systems thinking approach to support and assist stakeholders in understanding complex issues discovered in environmental health, community health, and public health, represented through an example of a causal loop diagram. As a systematic review, this paper analyzed the utilization of systems mapping as a research methodology in 18 environmental health studies relating to public health to understand how this approach can be applied. Our findings suggest that despite the need for more research around systems mapping in environmental health studies and potential drawbacks in the research process, systems mapping is an effective mechanism that is approachable through various data collection methods and areas of focus. Our findings revealed a high prevalence of research collecting data through literature reviews and participatory workshops with more research exploring the marine environment. Nonetheless, systems mapping can investigate differing yet critical environmental issues and promote the progress of or inform policies toward improving public health, community health, and environmental health issues.