6. differential equation modelling

Differential equation models, including system dynamics models, use differential equations to capture the rates of change of a set of variables and the relationships between them (Sterman, 2000). These models are useful for describing the dynamics within the population, which may include how behaviour is influenced within a complex system (Occhipinti et al., 2020; Breeze et al., 2023). However, it becomes more challenging to utilise this modelling method alone when decision makers would like to consider outcomes for many sociodemographic indicators, or when proximity to place is important in terms of behaviours. Differential equation models alone also cannot capture interactions between individuals in a way that would likely be useful for understanding the effect of interventions as they cannot explicitly capture different social network structures.