Description
What can be done about workaholic burnout? Why do new medical products get underused or overused? Under what conditions does antibiotic resistance become rampant? How can we better balance public health priorities for preventing and treating diabetes and cardiovascular disease? What types of policies are essential for effective health care reform? These questions and more are explored in this collection of sixteen journal articles written or co-written by Jack Homer, an award-winning and internationally recognized expert in system dynamics policy modeling, who has developed models for a variety of private and public organizations from the 1980s to the present. Some of the articles explore the models in detail, while others step back to offer general thoughts on methodology and the central question of how to approach modeling with both rigor and practicality.
Rebecca began her career as a strategy consultant at Monitor Company, honed her skills as a systems thinking facilitator at GKA Inc, worked as VP of Affordable Housing Acquisitions for Boston Financial, and built her own Systems Thinking consultancy through which she was a key contributor to the ReThink Health Initiative, Climate Interactive’s Agritopia, and Dialogos’ work for the US Forestry Service. She has spent more than 25 years supporting corporate and philanthropic clients including Vistaprint, Elizabeth Dole Foundation, AT&T, Ford, Smithkline Beecham, Shell, Amoco, and USDA. Her expertise is using collaborative causal mapping and System Dynamics simulation models to help multi-sector collaboratives think together better. Rebecca trained in Systems Dynamics in Jay Forrester’s Pre-College Education Project and John Sterman’s class while pursuing a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA from MIT. She has served on the Society Policy Council and been a guest lecturer at MIT, Wharton, Dartmouth, and Brown. When not working as a systems thinking evangelist, Rebecca loves to travel the world. Pre-covid travels included Mexico, Chile, Morocco, Brazil, Uganda and Iceland to spend time with school children, whale sharks, camels, street art, gorillas and waterfalls. When stuck at home, she enjoys gardening, swimming, dancing, and renovating properties.