Why Linear Thinking in Health Research Perpetuates Inequity — and What to Do About It

This article critiques the dominance of linear thinking in health research and public health policy. It argues that linear models — which assume simple cause-and-effect, straightforward access, and sequential care pathways — systematically reproduce inequity by failing to account for complexity, context, relationships, power dynamics, and lived experience. The piece calls for methodological approaches that embrace non-linear, systems-based thinking to make health research more equitable and effective.