Constructing an Empirically Grounded, Team-Centric Work System Model Exhibiting Interactions and Degrees of Congruence Across Individual Work System Configurations 42 views

Work system models support systems engineers and human factors experts in assessing sociotechnical systems and evaluating system design (or redesign) of interventions. Multiple work system models have been created specifically for use in health care to explicate complex clinician- and/or patient-centered systems. Health professional-focused work system models are used to guide empirical examination of system (re)design in professional health delivery and patient safety. Other models incorporate or center the patient perspective, applying systems thinking to the lived experiences of patients and supportive members (e.g., family, friends) in self-managing care needs. Four core components are identified within both patient- and clinician-focused models: person(s), tasks, tools and technologies, and environment. These four components can interact in different configurations, thereby shaping positive or negative system outcomes. In addition to assessing interactions across work systems, it is critical to assess the congruence among every individual’s experience in the work system. Work system congruence is defined as the similarity in form, logic, and details in corresponding components of different work systems. Congruence between work systems eases system designers’ abilities to resolve the negative effects of unforeseen interactions. However, work system models are limited in that they do not articulate the complexities of team-centric systems. Current models fail to account for three crucial aspects of reality: (1) each team member within the system has their own unique interactions with all other model components, (2) different people experience different model components, and (3) an individual’s work system configuration can be influenced by other team members within the system. Thus, the overarching goal of this dissertation is to innovatively create an empirically grounded, team-centric work system model using a case study of the informal caregiving teams of children with medical complexity. This new model exhibits interactions across team members’ individual work system configurations and the degrees of work system congruence. This dissertation sets the foundation for future systems engineers to methodically and holistically meet the needs of a team and refine a framework that prevents underrepresented team members from conforming to the system imposed by others. Further, this work will advance our methodological ability to characterize interconnected work system configurations of team members and create systems that uniquely address individuals’ needs within a team-based system. 

PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)

work system modeling; macroergonomics; teams

English

All rights reserved by the author (no additional license for public reuse)

2026-06-23