Mapping the Invisible: How Systems Thinking Can Transform Mental Healthcare (w/ Dr. Hossein Hosseini)

Dr. Hossein Hosseini is a systems modeling research fellow at the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre, specializing in mental health policy analysis through system dynamics modeling. With a PhD in socio-economic systems engineering, he builds simulation models that reveal hidden connections in complex systems to guide decision-makers beyond immediate concerns and visualize the hidden connections in the complex systems we all inhabit.

We begin with what it means to be a system modeler, the gap between growing mental health awareness and actual access to care, and how the Brain and Mind Centre's "Right Care, First Time, Where You Live" Program provides effective health and well-being solutions for decision-makers to strengthen Australia's mental health system and help young people thrive.

On the back half, we discuss how participatory approaches—especially including young people with lived experience—transform abstract systems into tools for advocacy while breaking down professional silos to create shared cross-sectoral understanding. We explore how simulation models serve as virtual testing grounds for policies amidst Australia's growing embrace of these approaches in policy-making, potentially avoiding unintended consequences and meeting more than one need at a time.

We close with reasons for hope in mental health care’s future, the power of systems thinking in a fractured world, and how, in interconnected systems, every action creates ripples for meaningful change, and we need not wait for perfect alignment to be the change we wish to see in the world.

00:00 – About Dr. Hosseini

00:58 – Overview

02:16 – Reflection on youth mental health crisis

03:44 – Value as moral compass

07:05 – Being a systems modeler

09:00 – Gap between mental health awareness and care

10:59 – Brain and Mind Centre’s mission

13:16 – Approach explanation (map analogy)

19:19 – Simulation model for the “best route”

22:15 – Flawed mental models

23:17 – Benefits of participatory approach

27:04 – Empowering youth

28:13 – Examples of unexpected systems behavior

31:57 – Breaking down silos & thinking in systems

34:09 – Stakeholder collaboration & communication

36:48 – Systems modeling for policymaking in Australia

39:49 – Boundary-setting and limitations

43:48 – Future of mental healthcare

45:19 – Digital solutions for mental health

46:35 – Role as citizens

48:46 – Power of individual actions

51:54 – Closing

Dr. Hosseini: LinkedIn | USYD profile

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Portrait illustration by Kay Lam.

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