Section Summary

This chapter provides an expanded discussion of the use of agent-based modeling (ABM) for policy purposes. It also outlines several key gaps that remain in moving ABM work ahead in social epidemiology and the study of the social determinants of health. The ABM approach offers a number of potential advantages as a decision aid in a policy setting. In general, ABMs that inform policy fall into three distinct categories: prospective policy models, retrospective policy models, and indirect policy models. The use of ABM to better understand the social determinants of health and to improve health outcomes and equity is particularly promising. For ABM to reach its full potential in this space, attention must be paid to addressing gaps in three important areas: data and data usage, theories of individual behavior, and training.