Syndemic Simulation
Dr. Jack Homer's syndemic simulation explores how three mutually compounding afflictions can interact within a community. Medical anthropologist Merrill Singer used the term "syndemic" to describe simultaneous and mutually reinforcing epidemics of substance abuse, violence, and AIDS among America's inner city poor. In the simulation, general community conditions are only mediocre and not supportive of healthy living, so there exists a threat of a growing "syndemic". Your goal is to minimize the community’s burden of affliction over a twenty year period.
A relatively poor and powerless community finds itself beset with multiple health afflictions and adverse living conditions. Although the community has employed various programs to keep things from getting worse, the problems are also not getting any better. Outside agencies could help by offering three broad types of assistance. Your goal is to reduce the community's burden of affliction (the average number of unhealthy days per person per year) as much as possible both during and after assistance.
Simulation developed by Dr. Jack Homer for the Syndemics Prevention Network of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A copy of the model (PDF) and the equations (PDF) are available for download.
Posted by Will Glass
