This book is an introduction to health care as a complex adaptive system, a system that feeds back on itself. The first section introduces systems and complexity theory from a science, historical, epistemological, and technical perspective, describing the principles and mathematics. Subsequent sections build on the health applications of systems science theory, from human physiology to medical decision making, population health and health services research. The aim of the book is to introduce and expand on important population health issues from a systems and complexity perspective, highlight current research developments and their implications for health care delivery, consider their ethical implications, and to suggest directions for and potential pitfalls in the future.

Written by international experts from health services research, primary care, management studies, systems science, and organizational behavior

1. Complexity in Health - An Introduction.- 2. Complexity, uncertainty and mess as the links between science and the humanities in healthcare.- Part 1 - Complexity Theory and Methods.- 3. Understanding Complex Systems.- 4. The Complex Nature of Knowledge.- 5. Mathematical Principles: Tales of Tails.- 6. Modelling.- 7. A methodology for the analysis of medical data.- 8. Psychological Rhythmicities.- 9. Modeling Illness and Recovery with Nonlinear Dynamics.- Part 2 - Dynamics in Human Health.- 10. Homeostasis: The Dynamic Self-regulatory Process that Maintains Health and Buffers against Disease.- 11. Fractals in Physiology & Medicine.- 12. Bio-complexity: challenging reductionism.- Part 3 - Concepts of Health.- 13. Trying to Make Sense of Health.- 14. Picture Health.- 15. Health - A personal complex-adaptive state.- 16. Understanding Health By Building Better Bio-Medical Models.- 17. Health - a systems and complexity based definition.- Part 4 - Clinical Application.- 18. Complexities of the Consultation.- 19. Inflammation through a Psychoneuroimmunological Lens.- 20. Diabetes control: insights from complexity science.- 21. Complexity and the onset of psychosis.- 22. Understanding intimate partner violence through its dynamics.- 23. Multi-level interdependencies and constraints in panic disorder: Many triggers, few responses.- 24. Nonlinear Relations of Cardiovascular Risk Factors to Neuropsychological Function and Dementia.- 25.  Pain and Complex Adaptive System Theory.- 26. Complexity in Movement Disorders:  A Systems Approach to Intervention.- 27. Avoidable hospitalizations in older adults.- 28.  Continuous Multiorgan Variability Monitoring in Critically Ill Patients - Complexity Science at the Bedside.- Part 5 - Health Services.- 29. An overview of complexity theory: understanding primary care as a complex adaptive system.- 30. Real-time Analytics and Quality of Care.- 31. Medical Sociology and Case-Based Complexity Science: A User's Guide.- 32. The Drug Prescription Process: a Network Medicine Approach.- 33. Applications of Complex Dynamics, an Approach to Refractory Health Policy Interventions.- 34.  Designing for Health Promotion, Social Innovation and Complexity: The CoNEKTR Model for Wicked Problems.- 35.  The Dynamical Behaviours of Diseases in Africa.- Part 6 - Health System.- 36. Health Transition Funds Initiatives: Implications for Health System Reform and Evaluation.- 37.  Putting complexity to work - supporting practitioners in health systems.- 38. Implementing Adaptive Health Practice - A Complexity-Based Philosophy of Health Care.- 39.  Mayo Clinic: Making Complex Healthcare Simpler.- 40. Embracing Uncertainty: Complexity Inspired Innovations at Billings Clinic.- 41.  A Complexity Science Perspective of Organizational Behavior in Clinical Microsystems.- 42.  Reverse the Epidemic Tides of Unhealthy Habits: Personal, Professional and Leadership Challenges.- 43. Health Professions Education:  Complexity, Teaching and Learning.- 44. Understanding Clinical Complexity through conversational learning in medical social networks: Implementing User Driven Health care.- Part 7 - The Future of Healthcare.- 45.  Making sense - from complex systems theories, models and analytics to adapting actions and practices in health and health care.- 46.  Modeling the Paradox of Primary Care.- 47.  Health Care Reform - the need for a complex adaptive systems approach.- 48.  A Complexity Science Approach to Healthcare Costs and Quality.- 49.  Opportunities in Delivery of Preventive Services in Retail Settings.- 50.  Complexity Science in the Future of Behavioral Medicine.- 51.  Systems Medicine - A New Model for Healthcare.- Epilogue.