Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Systems Thinking and Design Innovation: Working with Leverage Points in Rural Maternal Health Systems
This video is featured in the Systems Thinking playlist.
Summary
Are some problems too wicked, complex, and systemic for designers to solve? The United States is experiencing a maternal health crisis—with the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations globally and an expanding number of counties being deemed "maternity care deserts" or areas without obstetrical services. These failures are disproportionately impacting Black and Indigenous communities, especially in rural areas. In this presentation, Meghan will share research that applies systems thinking to first-hand accounts from maternal health stakeholders to identify leverage points for design innovation. Meghan will break down leverage points using Donella Meadows' framework and discuss the power of her ultimate leverage point — paradigm shifts.
Key Insights
-
•
The US has the highest maternal mortality among high-income nations, especially impacting Black and Indigenous communities.
-
•
Maternity care deserts disproportionately affect rural areas, with nearly half of US counties lacking obstetric care.
-
•
A systemic paradigm shift is needed from technocratic to more holistic maternal health models.
-
•
Financial barriers like low reimbursement and costly malpractice insurance threaten birth centers’ viability.
-
•
Rapid labor unit closures create urgent access crises for pregnant people in rural regions.
-
•
Managerialism and profit-driven goals conflict with maternal safety and compassionate care.
-
•
Information flow, including transparency of hospital closures and costs, is a crucial leverage point for systemic improvement.
-
•
Community resilience and self-organization are key structural factors for rebuilding maternal health systems.
-
•
Pragmatic pluralism exists in maternal health paradigms; multiple belief systems coexist with tension but no clear dominant shift.
-
•
Design opportunities include supporting grassroots initiatives, improving data communication, and redefining system boundaries beyond hospitals.
Notable Quotes
"The US has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations in the world."
"Birth centers would be replicable if reimbursement structures were adequate, but they can't survive without payment."
"What does a hysterectomy cost? $2,000, $13,000, or $40,000? It depends who you ask and who pays."
"Managerialism justifies one size fits all efficiency techniques that increase burnout and diminish professional authority."
"Paradigm shifts depend on how a problem is described and who controls the narratives and beliefs."
"Where big corporations don't want to bother, little seeds can sprout in maternal health."
"Systems that can self-organize are the strongest form of resilience."
"Maternal health is embedded within a healthcare industry prioritizing cost control, risk management, and standardization, not maternal safety."
"Information flow distortion compounds dysfunction in the system over time."
"The dominant technocratic paradigm under managerialism may be incompatible with rural maternal health needs."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"A large organization’s security protocols make AI adoption slower and more complex than in smaller groups."
Jon Fukuda Amy Evans Ignacio Martinez Joe MeersmanThe Big Question about Innovation: A Panel Discussion
September 25, 2024
"Accessibility requires flexible designs, not limited designs."
Sam ProulxAccessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
March 9, 2022
"Nothing about us without us — cultural content should be created and tested with people who represent that culture."
Anna Avrekh Amy Jiménez Márquez Morgan C. Ramsey Catarina TsangDiversity In and For Design: Building Conscious Diversity in Design and Research
June 9, 2021
"Just start building a quick little service to get a taste of what this technology can do."
Greg NudelmanDesigning Conversational Interfaces
November 14, 2019
"Changing branding and the look and feel should be possible with very quick and easy interactions, not taking another 10 weeks to customize."
George Abraham Stefan IvanovDesign Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)
October 1, 2021
"I get asked if you can place one sticky in multiple clusters—AI doesn’t support that yet, but I hack it."
Shipra KayanMake your research synthesis speedy and more collaborative using a canvas
January 24, 2025
"When you press a button like an upvote, it’s the developer’s job to make sure the visual state is communicated via ARIA landmarks."
Sam ProulxDesigning For Screen Readers: Understanding the Mental Models and Techniques of Real Users
December 10, 2021
"Ownership of VOC is a hot potato, so we built a coalition with a facilitator to keep it collaborative and effective."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"Physical therapists see their hands as a golden resource and tend to resist technology that might replace that."
Dane DeSutterKeeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not
March 26, 2024
