On Complementarity and the Need for a Transdisciplinary Approach in Addressing Emerging Global Health Issues

Systems are increasing in complexity as the world becomes more globally connected. The pervasiveness of information, education, and connectivity has forced individuals to devise new ways to think about problems. Most complex problems no longer reside neatly within the boundaries of a single discipline. As a result, addressing these problems requires problem solvers to broaden their perspectives and to think across disciplines. This chapter explores the concept of complementarity as a motivation for seeking transdisciplinary solutions to problems. Through the lens of complementarity, the case will be made for the utility of adopting a transdisciplinary perspective to modern, complex problems unable to be addressed using a single discipline. It then provides three unique perspectives (engineering, global health, and education) through which to view the analysis of a singular problem, that of emerging health issues such as the current Ebola virus disease crisis in the world. Next, these perspectives will be examined using cognitive mapping, forming an approach to adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, which yields insights not possible by each of the disparate disciplines alone. This approach is then demonstrated on a sample problem. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for future research are identified.