Test your knowledge
Choose one of the case studies from the video (see transcripts below), and use the START map narrative loops to help you work through the following different levels of the systems pyramid.
- What are the events in your scenario?
- Use the narrative loop(s) to identify patterns of behaviour
- Looking at the structure of the START map (i.e. the feedback loops), what are some key challenges you may encounter?
- Who are the key stakeholders? What could be their perspective/mental model? How will you gain an understanding of their perspective(s)?
- Based on this information, can you identify potential leverage points for intervention?
Click below to see example answers
Example Answer (i):
i. An event or symptom is something we can easily see. It’s produced by the structure of the system.
An example for the Sports & Recreation scenario could be customers (mainly children and adolescents) buying lollies and soft drinks i.e. a symptom of the ‘system’ of food advertising, eating behaviours etc. For the Hospital scenario the event could be the government-mandated healthy food policy, retailer resistant to change, possible backlash from customers.
Below are example answers for questions ii – v for each of the narrative loops:
R1: "Get started now"
ii. The ‘pattern’ of behaviour is the feedback loop (reinforcing or balancing). You need to ask “what is the ‘event’ that could keep happening”? An example, for both scenarios, is that implementing [the first] healthy change is essential in demonstrating the feasibility and potential profitability of healthy changes (by increasing healthiness of customer purchases).
iii. Key challenges are the barriers such as the willingness to participate.
iv. Stakeholders could be managers or owners of the food retail outlet and customers.
v. Leverage points are the places in the map where you would intervene. This could be addressing concerns over profitability of healthy changes from the owners perspective (hospital scenario) and from the customer perspective (sports and recreation scenario).
B1: “Be prepared for diminishing return on investment”
ii. An example of the ‘pattern’ of behaviour (the reinforcing/balancing feedback loop) could be changing the menu by removing unhealthy items, which may cause profits to go down, resulting in the owner being less willing to make changes. This is type of ‘event’ could happen repeatedly.
iii. Key challenges are the barriers such as the willingness to participate, or time and resources required.
iv. Stakeholders could be managers or owners of the food retail outlet and staff.
v. Leverage points are the places in the map where you would intervene. This could be clearly identifying the time and resources that will be required.
R2: “Explore different sources of resource support”
ii. An example of the ‘pattern’ of behaviour (the reinforcing/balancing feedback loop) could be that once the retailer is on board and begins implementing healthy changes, this can drive organisational leadership. This can, in turn, reinforce organisational resourcing, as it lowers the risk the organisation takes by investing in resources to support them (R2).
iii. Key challenges are the barriers such as time and resources required.
iv. Stakeholders could be managers or owners of the food retail outlet and staff, leaders within the organisation (i.e. of the hospital where the café is situated), customers, and health promotion practitioners (those who provide external support).
v. Leverage points are the places in the map where you would intervene. This could be the external practical support necessary to help both the organisation and the outlet staff and management.
B2,R3,R4: “Focus on the customer”
ii. An example of the ‘pattern’ of behaviour (the reinforcing/balancing feedback loop) could be that when previous healthy changes are implemented, customers become disgrunted, resulting in negative engagements with outlet staff, that cause managers to revert to original menus (i.e. a decrease in implementing healthy changes). This narrative has multiple patterns of behaviour i.e. R3, R4 and B2.
iii. Key challenges are the barriers such as customer resistance to change.
iv. Stakeholders could be managers or owners of the food retail outlet and staff, and customers.
v. Leverage points are the places in the map where you would intervene. This could be engaging customers in healthy changes which directly impacts customer resistance to change and actively involves outlet staff in the process.
B3,R5: “Work with suppliers to overcome time and resource barriers”
ii. An example of the ‘pattern’ of behaviour (the reinforcing/balancing feedback loop) could be R5 and B3, where increased outlet staff, manager or owner time and resources required reduces outlet staff engagement in making the changes, leading them to put less effort into seeking healthy alternatives (R5).
iii. Key challenges are the barriers such as supply of appropriate healthy alternatives.
iv. Stakeholders could be managers or owners of the food retail outlet and staff, customers, and health promotion practitioners (those who provide external support).
v. Leverage points are the places in the map where you would intervene. This could be a combination of interventions such as external practical support to identify supply of appropriate healthy alternatives.
