[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Systems Thinking: The Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives (DSRP) Theory

## Details

**Authors** Pesut, Daniel J. and Monsen, Karen A.

**Publisher** University of Minnesota, via Coursera — Introduction to Social Determinants of Health (Social Determinants of Health: Data to Action Specialization)

**Kind of work** course

**Discipline** Public Health

**Secondary disciplines** Medicine, Education

**Kind of engagement** public

**Applied** false

[Read it](https://www.coursera.org/lecture/introduction-to-social-determinants-of-health/systems-thinking-the-distinctions-systems-relationships-perspectives-dsrp-theory-G5bHL)

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

Per the module description, the lesson has learners study DSRP theory in order to develop a systems thinking mindset before the course turns to collective impact and to data applications.

### How they did it (methods)

An eleven-minute recorded lecture, the first lesson of Module 2, Theoretical Perspective, in the first of five courses in the specialization. The course is pitched at beginner level with no prior experience required.

### What they found (results)

The module states that systems thinking involves making distinctions, understanding systems, understanding relationships, and points of view and perspective taking, and names DSRP theory as what the lesson covers.

## Commentary

### In short

A University of Minnesota course on the social determinants of health gives DSRP its own lecture in the theory module, naming the four patterns as what systems thinking consists of before the course turns to collective impact and data work.

### Response

The placement is the notable thing and it is accurate: DSRP appears in the theoretical module rather than among the course's tools and data methods, which matches what the theory claims for itself, that the four patterns are an account of how information is structured and not a mapping technique to be picked up alongside others. The module's rendering of the four is correct as far as it goes, and in splitting the fourth into points of view and perspective taking it keeps a distinction the theory itself makes, between the point-view structure and the act of bringing a perspective to bear. The lecture is available only to enrolled learners, so what it argues about DSRP over its eleven minutes cannot be weighed from the public course pages.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

**Added** 2026-10-26

**How to cite this** Pesut, Daniel J. and Monsen, Karen A. (n.d.). Systems Thinking: The Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives (DSRP) Theory. University of Minnesota, via Coursera — Introduction to Social Determinants of Health (Social Determinants of Health: Data to Action Specialization).