This document summarizes the work of THEnet, a global collaborative working to transform health professional education to better meet community needs. It does this through developing tools like the Framework for Social Accountability in Health Professional Education, which helps schools design programs aligned with community priorities. THEnet also advocates for this socially accountable model of training through research showing improved health outcomes when students are locally recruited and communities engaged. The document highlights examples of partner institutions making a difference by responding quickly to disasters, improving access to education, and cultivating enduring academic-community partnerships.
Henry Perry, MD, MPH, PhD, Senior Scientist, Health Systems Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Presented by Clem Bezold and Trevor Thompson
Public health in each city and county in the United States works to ensure the conditions for all to be healthy. Public health investigates disease outbreaks, fosters health promotion and health equity, and assures that health care is available. And it typically focuses on the most vulnerable in the community. There are several forces changing public health—what it does and how it operates. The effects of climate change on local communities, other types of emergencies, future infectious diseases and their surveillance, optimal approaches to health promotion for communities, the role of health care providers in enhancing population health, the state of health equity or fairness—these are among the topics considered in the scenarios. The Institute for Alternative Futures, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, has developed a national project developing Public Health 2030 Scenarios. This session will present those results.
Henry Perry, MD, MPH, PhD, Senior Scientist, Health Systems Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Presented by Clem Bezold and Trevor Thompson
Public health in each city and county in the United States works to ensure the conditions for all to be healthy. Public health investigates disease outbreaks, fosters health promotion and health equity, and assures that health care is available. And it typically focuses on the most vulnerable in the community. There are several forces changing public health—what it does and how it operates. The effects of climate change on local communities, other types of emergencies, future infectious diseases and their surveillance, optimal approaches to health promotion for communities, the role of health care providers in enhancing population health, the state of health equity or fairness—these are among the topics considered in the scenarios. The Institute for Alternative Futures, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, has developed a national project developing Public Health 2030 Scenarios. This session will present those results.
Esta nova Diretriz OMS: Aconselhamento de mulheres para melhorar as práticas de amamentação, é a primeira orientação baseada em evidências científicas para esta intervenção.
Complementa as iniciativas e orientações apresentadas em várias publicações anteriores da OMS:
Breastfeeding counselling: a training course, Infant and young child feeding counselling: an integrated course, Combined course on growth assessment and IYCF counselling, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, Community management of at-risk mothers and infants under six months of age (C-MAMI) tool, Essential newborn care course, Caring for newborns and children in the community: a training course for community health workers, Guidelines on optimal feeding of low birth-weight infants in low- and middle-income countries, Guideline: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, Implementation guidance: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services – the revised Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and Infant and young child feeding in emergencies. Operational guidance for emergency relief staf and programme managers.
Essa diretriz expande os detalhes de tempo, frequência, modo ou profissional ideal para o Aconselhamento para melhorar as práticas de aleitamento materno, com base nas revisões sistemáticas e narrativas mais recentes sobre o tema. Um documento de orientação anexo, complementa os detalhes de um programa de saúde pública de Aconselhamento em Amamentação.
Dra. Elsa Giuglini foi uma das consultoras dessa publicação que será muito útil para provarmos que o Aconselhamento é uma habilidade imprescindível.
Prof. Marcus Renato de Carvalho
Global launch: Delivering prevention in an ageing worldILC- UK
It’s never too late to prevent ill health. And the health and economic costs of failing to invest in preventative interventions across the life course are simply too high to ignore.
At this event, we launched two new reports on what works in delivering a preventative approach to health in an ageing world; how we can improve take-up and adherence to preventative interventions; what we have learned from COVID-19; and how policymakers across the world need to act to ensure prevention becomes a priority as countries build back from the damage inflicted by the pandemic.
We were joined by a panel of experts from across the world to discuss the findings and what needs to happen next so we can move from consensus to action on prevention.
On the potential to dramatically improve health, healthcare and medical science by harnessing petabytes of data from individuals taking care of their own health, and on the necessary shifts in mindset required.
It is most important principle of health education . If the health education topic is of no interest to the people , they will not listen to it. The health educator should identify the “felt needs” of the people , i.e. those needs the people feel for themselves and the prepare a programme that they can actively participate in to make it successful .
A Re-Introduction to Health Education and the knowledge in it
purpose
dimension
aspects
importance
The Change, its process and management
The Education Process
The Teaching Strategies
Esta nova Diretriz OMS: Aconselhamento de mulheres para melhorar as práticas de amamentação, é a primeira orientação baseada em evidências científicas para esta intervenção.
Complementa as iniciativas e orientações apresentadas em várias publicações anteriores da OMS:
Breastfeeding counselling: a training course, Infant and young child feeding counselling: an integrated course, Combined course on growth assessment and IYCF counselling, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, Community management of at-risk mothers and infants under six months of age (C-MAMI) tool, Essential newborn care course, Caring for newborns and children in the community: a training course for community health workers, Guidelines on optimal feeding of low birth-weight infants in low- and middle-income countries, Guideline: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services, Implementation guidance: protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in facilities providing maternity and newborn services – the revised Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and Infant and young child feeding in emergencies. Operational guidance for emergency relief staf and programme managers.
Essa diretriz expande os detalhes de tempo, frequência, modo ou profissional ideal para o Aconselhamento para melhorar as práticas de aleitamento materno, com base nas revisões sistemáticas e narrativas mais recentes sobre o tema. Um documento de orientação anexo, complementa os detalhes de um programa de saúde pública de Aconselhamento em Amamentação.
Dra. Elsa Giuglini foi uma das consultoras dessa publicação que será muito útil para provarmos que o Aconselhamento é uma habilidade imprescindível.
Prof. Marcus Renato de Carvalho
Global launch: Delivering prevention in an ageing worldILC- UK
It’s never too late to prevent ill health. And the health and economic costs of failing to invest in preventative interventions across the life course are simply too high to ignore.
At this event, we launched two new reports on what works in delivering a preventative approach to health in an ageing world; how we can improve take-up and adherence to preventative interventions; what we have learned from COVID-19; and how policymakers across the world need to act to ensure prevention becomes a priority as countries build back from the damage inflicted by the pandemic.
We were joined by a panel of experts from across the world to discuss the findings and what needs to happen next so we can move from consensus to action on prevention.
On the potential to dramatically improve health, healthcare and medical science by harnessing petabytes of data from individuals taking care of their own health, and on the necessary shifts in mindset required.
It is most important principle of health education . If the health education topic is of no interest to the people , they will not listen to it. The health educator should identify the “felt needs” of the people , i.e. those needs the people feel for themselves and the prepare a programme that they can actively participate in to make it successful .
A Re-Introduction to Health Education and the knowledge in it
purpose
dimension
aspects
importance
The Change, its process and management
The Education Process
The Teaching Strategies
CHAPTER 84How Community-Based Organizations Are Addressing Nursi.docxtiffanyd4
CHAPTER 84
How Community-Based Organizations Are Addressing Nursing's Role in Transforming Health Care
Mary Ann Christopher, Ann Campbell
“The day may soon dawn when we Americans can enjoy a measure of life and health that is consistent with our extraordinary resources and the intelligence of our people. The pioneers have begun their work; it is far from finished. New fields, new enterprises, are visible. The times call for the high spirit of the courageous pioneers among physicians, scientists, and nurses.”
Lillian Wald
This is a time of rapid transformation in health care, one in which community health nursing has a critical role in advancing individual and public health. As the United States integrates the mandates of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), community health organizations have a pivotal role in affecting the health status of the nation, particularly for vulnerable populations. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement, through the construct of the Triple Aim, calls on all members of the health care team to improve the health of the population, improve the consumer experience and reduce the cost of care. The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report on The Future of Nursing has charged nurses to become equal partners in the development of health policy and practice (IOM, 2011). The IOM report Public Health and Primary Care has challenged practitioners to coordinate efforts for the betterment of patients (IOM, 2012a).
Community-based organizations are strategically positioned to provide the leadership as well as the integration and coordination of services necessary to carry out these aims. Further, the community-based sector of the nursing profession is poised to influence the transformation of health care delivery by drawing on principles that are core to the discipline. By partnering with communities, creating innovative approaches to care as the system evolves, and engaging the communities they serve, community health nurses can deliver on the promise of quality health care for all. This chapter discusses the approaches of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) to mobilize the strengths of the community to improve public health, establish cross-continuum interprofessional teams to affect the continuum of the patient care journey, and promote public policy to advance funding methodologies that more adequately consider risk factors of vulnerable populations.
Community as Partner and the Community Anchor
Community Anchor is a concept that is being developed by the VNSNY as a way to build healthier communities. The Community Anchor is a term that suggests if nursing is going to exercise its responsibility for the individual as well as public health, the profession must recommit to its traditional focus on grassroots needs assessment and service provision, so brilliantly illustrated by the work of Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement House, the VNSNY, public health nursing, 665occupational health nursing, the first pl.
Rosie Jean Louis Discussion 7COLLAPSETop of FormCommunity N.docxhealdkathaleen
Rosie Jean Louis: Discussion 7
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Community Nursing Practice Model
The prevalence of illness among poor urban and rural populations increase the demand for critical care services. However, there is a shortage for physicians who can take up responsibilities in the community health sector. Among the efforts in place to strengthen the human resource is the growing interest to have nurses in advance practices participate inpatient care at the community health level. By applying the community, nursing practice model advanced practice nurses are better prepared to deliver care and outcomes to patients in poor communities.
The Community Nursing Practice Model
The community nursing model plays an essential role in ensuring that less privileged communities can access better healthcare by providing a framework for community nurses to focus on entire populations that have similar health concerns or characteristics. For example, a society where there are reproductive health issues, nurses applying this model in such a community will be able to know what the needs of the community are as far as reproductive health is concerned (Maclaine, 2014).
The model considers all levels of prevention, which include primary prevention whereby the advanced practice nurses promote health and protect against threats to health in the community. For example, carrying out awareness in the community on sexually transmitted diseases and distributing latex condoms in the community (Maclaine, 2014). Another level of prevention is secondary prevention, which involves the community nurses’ practitioners detecting and treating problems at the early stage of detection so that the health problem does not cause serious problems or affect others. The last level of prevention involves the community nurse practitioner preventing existing problems from getting worse.
The MSN Essential
Clinical prevention and population health are one of the MSN essential that is relevant to the community nursing practice. The underlying notion of this MSN essential is recognizing that masters prepared nurse applies and integrates a good organizational, patient-centered and culturally appropriate idea in planning to deliver and managing of clinical prevention and community care services to individuals and families (AACN, 2011). Under this essential, it is well elaborated that a master’s degree level nurse should be able to synthesize broad social determinants of health and data from epidemiology to design and deliver clinical interventions to the communities in need while using relevant strategies.
In summary,the model has transcended values of respect, care, and wellness, which are essential in primary health care. The CNP and MSN essential provide a framework for nurses who want to practice in the community health sector and especially for advanced care nurses. The model depicts community health nursing practitioners as an essential part of an interdisciplinary team that includes phys ...
Johnson & Johnson has stood as an emblem of promise for the past few years towards this end. Up till today, they still serve as that promise working consistently to ensure no one is neglected or left out on their effort to achieve quality health care services.
The centrality of health outcomes to India’s overall development cannot be over stated as poor health is not only a consequence of but also a major cause for persisting inter-generational poverty.
Broadleaf Health and Education Alliance works in rural India to ensure that children in low-income, rural communities have access to health care in order to reach their full potential.
Budget RESEARCHBudget Template - page 1 of 2GRANT(For Internal Use.docxAASTHA76
Budget RESEARCHBudget Template - page 1 of 2GRANT(For Internal Use Only - see specific sponsoringTitle:Union County of Georgia cancer prevention programagency for the proper forms)Date:12-May-17RFA no.PI:Project Period:2017/2018Budget Period:2017-2018Year 1Field researchResearch assitants( Salaries & benefits)250,000Transport120,000Research tools( questionaires and interviews)50,000420,000Screening actvitiesLocal hospital staff service fees80,000Electricity consumed by equipment20,000Maintenace expenses40,000140,000MarketingNutrionists service fees150,000Local gym service15,000Formation of chamber fo commerce180,000Education workshops ( schools and community centers)50,000395,000
pasterme:
rate as of 7/1/05
subject to change
confirm with the SPH
Business Office
pasterme:
part-time student rate as of 7/1/04 subject to change confirm with the SPH Business Office
pasterme:
rate subject to change Please review all budgets with the SPH
Business Office.
Running head: COMMUNITY COALITION 1
COMMUNITY COALITION 3
Community Coalition
Kimberly Crawford
Kaplan University
January 8, 2018
Community Coalition
1. Choose 5 partnerships to engage and explain why you would invite each of these people//organizations to be a part of the coalition.
The creation of community health promotion and education programs takes into consideration several agencies or parties who help in the achievement of the desired health goals. Each of the partners will address its roles using different approaches depending on their area of expertise. This is an important factor to consider as different institutions address health promotion using different approaches and perspectives. The overall outcome from the contribution of every partner should be able to restore and promote the physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, and social wellness of the community in relation to the health issue being suffered (Minelli, & Breckon, 2009). Chronic diseases are currently the leading causes of death in the community due to their complexity and the severe effects on human health. The community health promotion and education program will be provided by the ‘Health Concerns Coalition’ which will be made up of the following partners; community religious groups, Cancer Supportive Care Foundation, an association of cancer-survivor patients, nutritional organizations, and the local authority.
1. Cancer Supportive Care Foundation – This is an important part of the coalition as it will offer technical expertise in education and diagnosis of chronic diseases. The foundation team will include medical experts who will diagnose the community members of any chronic illnesses. Examinations for diseases such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and blood pressure will be conducted by this partner as they will provide modern machines needed for the diagnosis of chronic illnesses.
2. Community religious groups – Community religious groups ca ...
Developing a working relationship: embracing the prevention agenda and integr...UKFacultyPublicHealth
Developing a working relationship: embracing the prevention agenda and integrated care - presentation at the Faculty of Public Health annual conference 2016
Greetings from Tata Institute of Social Sciences!
We are happy to inform you that we are in the beginning of our placement cycle for this year and are glad to attach, an introductory brochure of the 2013-2015 batch of the School of Health Systems Studies (TISS), for your perusal. Like every year, class of 2015 is also represented by conscientious and skilled students that carry great potential and TISS is delighted to present them for placements this year.
This year our placement week has been scheduled from 13th December to 21st December, 2014. We request you to go through this introductory brochure (http://shss.tiss.edu/placements/placement-brochure-2013-2015/view) and contact us for registration and further clarifications.
2. Wh at We Sta n d Fo r
Health Equity
Everyone has a fair opportunity
to live a long, healthy life, with access
to high-quality health services.
Social Accountability
Institutions that train health professionals
emphasize the needs and priorities
of communities at every step.
Community Engagement
All activities and programs are
designed, conducted, and evaluated
in genuine partnership with the
communities they serve.
3. is a global collaborative
of committed partners that share a vision
of educating health professionals in line with
the specific needs of their communities.
We seek nothing short of a transformation
in the way the global
health workforce is trained,
based on the principles
of health equity,
social accountability, and
community engagement.
Together with our partners,
we are watering the seeds
of change, overseeing their growth, and
reaping a harvest of healthier, more resilient
communities around the world.
4. Transform
A
t least 400 million
people globally do
not have access
to essential health
services. When entire
communities lie beyond the reach
of health care, more women die
in childbirth, more newborns
perish before they’ve taken their
first breath, and more children
succumb to preventable diseases.
Simple, low-cost remedies for
many of these health scourges
are available. A periodic visit by
a health professional can make all
the difference between life and
death across large swaths of Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa, and
among vulnerable populations on
every continent. And yet a world-
wide shortage of appropriately
trained health professionals, and
their highly uneven distribution,
perpetuates these inequities.
There is increasing recognition
that the traditional way of educating
health professionals is part of
THEnet is transforming the way
institutions train their students for
careers in the health professions
consistent with community needs.
the problem. A growing body of
evidence has shown that socially
accountable workforce educa-
tion, tools, and strategies can help
reverse the shortage and improve
the distribution and performance
of health professionals worldwide.
THEnet is committed to a socially
accountable model of education
that is, indeed, moving the world
toward health equity. It’s a model
that encourages students to pursue
careers in primary care and to
practice in underserved communi-
ties. Socially accountable schools
measure their performance in
terms of where their graduates
practice and the improved health
outcomes of the people they serve.
Learning from the successes of
schools that are already producing
a fit-for-purpose health workforce
in both high- and low-income
countries, THEnet is promoting
innovative strategies, building
capacity, fostering collaboration
between diverse actors, sectors,
and disciplines, and advocating for
change, thus seeding the growth
of healthy, resilient communities
worldwide.
Brazil doubled
its number
of primary
health workers
between 2002
and 2012,
resulting in
a drop in
mortality of
kids under five
from 58.0% to
15.6% per 1,000
live births.
5. of
S oc i a lly A cco u n ta b l e H e a lt h Wo r k fo rc e E d uc at i o n
Principles
Education,
research,
and service
programs are
designed to
meet the
health and
social needs of
underserved
communities.
Students are
selected from
communities
that have
the greatest
health needs.
Programs
are located
in or near the
communities
they serve.
A significant
part of the
learning
experience
takes place in
primary care
settings.
The curriculum
integrates
basic, clinical,
population, and
social science,
including
the social
determinants of
health.
Teaching
methods
are student-
centered and
service-based,
emphasizing
teamwork and
benefiting from
information
technology.
Schools
recruit and
train
community-
based
practitioners
as teachers
and mentors.
Programs
emphasize
a commitment
to public
service,
with faculty
members
serving as
role models.
Social
accountability
is reflected
across all
departments
and in the
commitment
from school
leadership.
Transform health professional education to meet
the needs of underserved communities
Build institutional capacity and measure outcomes
using THEnet’s Framework
Support change at the level of government policy
Conduct cutting-edge research
Provide consultancy services
Tr a n s l at i n g Pr i n c i pl e s i n to A c t i o n
THEnet applies the principles of socially accountable health workforce education to:
6. Mobilize
T
o become more socially
accountable, health
professional schools
start by identifying the
needs of communities
and rethinking the way they
measure their own success.
Instead of merely counting how
many graduates they produce,
they should also assess whether
the competencies of their gradu-
ates are aligned with community
needs. Instead of only tallying how
many articles their researchers
have published, they should also
consider the impact these articles
have had on policy. And instead of
basing their student recruitment
policies on high test scores alone,
they should recruit students who are
most likely to stay in communities
where health professionals are
scarce — and urgently needed.
THEnet is prepared to help
schools move from should to can
and will. In 2011, in collabora-
tion with its partner institutions,
THEnet developed a powerful,
practical and comprehensive tool
to help schools align the training
THEnet has developed a comprehensive
tool — The Framework — to help health
professional schools evaluate their outcomes
and optimize their program impact.
of health workers with community
needs, called The Framework for
Social Accountability in Health
Professional Education — also
known simply as The Framework.
The Framework helps schools
design, modify, and evaluate their
programs so that they can realize
true health equity in a highly
inequitable world.
Available as an open-source tool on
THEnet’s website, The Framework
has been adopted by health
professional schools in Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Iran,
New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal,
South Africa, Sudan, and the United
States, with more schools signing
on every year.
The Framework is a living,
breathing quality improvement
tool that can be adapted to any
institutional setting. Some schools
are using it to set, or reset, their
priorities. Some are using it selec-
tively, applying the most relevant
modules to specific issues and
challenges. And some turn to The
Framework to figure out where
and how to start.
The best way to start, we’ve found,
is to build on the successful experi-
ences and practices of schools
that are well along on the journey.
Students at
Ateneo de
Zamboanga in
the Philippines
report feeling
“utang na
loob” — a debt
of gratitude
that compels
them to
serve rural
communities.
7. When a massive earthquake rocked
Nepal in April 2015, students and faculty
from Patan Academy of Health Sciences
(PAHS) were prepared to save lives, treat
injuries and reduce the suffering of the
community as much as possible.
Because the area around PAHS sits on a fault line, students
quickly become aware that an earthquake could strike
at any time. They’re trained to respond should the worst
happen. They also live and work in the surrounding com-
munity, building relationships, earning trust, and gaining
a deep understanding of needs — the hallmark of socially
accountable health workforce education.
When you’re under threat of disaster, preparedness is key,
said Dr. Ashis Shrestha, head of Emergency Medicine at
PAHS, a THEnet partner institution located right outside
Kathmandu, Nepal’s densely populated capital city. Far
from an academic add-on or a quick rotation, emergency
preparedness is at the heart of the school’s socially
accountable curriculum. In their first year, PAHS students
quickly become attuned to the needs of the surrounding
community, from water-borne diseases to maternal mor-
tality, intestinal parasites, and the ever-present possibility
of an earthquake.
In line with the school’s community-engaged approach to
health professional education, Dr. Shrestha led a series
of trainings just months before the earthquake hit. These
drills involved students, hospital staff, and the surrounding
community. The most challenging training scenario com-
pelled the team to evacuate patients and create a field
hospital with its own water supply, sanitation, electricity,
and refrigeration system. They also had to practice transfer-
ring patients to the improvised facility. “At the start of the
drill, it took us four
hours to complete
the transfer — but
by the end, we
accomplished it
in just one hour,”
said Dr. Shrestha.
When the real
earthquake hit,
the PAHS team
was as prepared as
humanly possible
— and yet there’s
no way to prepare
emotionally for an
earthquake’s sheer
destructive force,
he said: “More than a thousand victims received primary
trauma care at our hospital in the immediate aftermath of
the earthquake, and a large influx of people with severe
injuries came through our doors for weeks and even months
thereafter.”
With strong ties to local NGOs and community-based net-
works, The PAHS students and faculty were able to respond
quickly, efficiently and compassionately because they were
already an integral part of the community.
S o c i a l A c c o u n ta b i l i t y i n A c t i o n impact
Dr. Ashis Shrestha, Head of
Emergency Medicine at Patan
Academy of Health Sciences
8. Cultivate
C
ommunity engagement
is all about mutuality.
Research has shown that
a community-engaged
approach to the training
of health professionals benefits
the entire health system.
To help its partner institutions
produce a fit-for-purpose work-
force comprised of the health
professionals the world needs,
communities must be engaged
from the outset.
Patients and health professionals
learn from each other. Families,
neighbors, community members,
and health leaders are ideally
positioned to help assess needs
and set priorities.
The first questions a health
professional school might ask of
community members is: What
are you looking for in a health
professional? How can we best
meet your needs?
THEnet is cultivating enduring
partnerships between academic
institutions, health practitioners,
and communities in need.
Schools may partner with commu-
nities to build pit latrines, plant
vegetable gardens, or develop
cottage industries to generate
income. They may collaborate on
strategies to ensure the success
of a new immunization or clean
water program.
Students at schools within
THEnet’s purview receive training
in a wider range of competencies
than do their counterparts at
traditional institutions. At these
innovative schools, students
understand that where and how
people live has a direct impact
on health. This kind of education
translates into meaningful, compas-
sionate care and service.
Academic-community partnerships
also go far toward countering
the passivity that is often seen
among people living in neglected
communities steeped in long-
standing poverty. Clearly, a
community-engaged approach
makes for strong communities
engaged in their own health,
working right alongside faculty,
students, and graduates.
A community-
engaged nursing
education
program in
rural Australia
improved
health while
resulting in
cost savings
of $437,000
to the health
system.
9. Children from an indigenous community
on a huge inland lake in the Philippines
used to travel for up to three hours
to get to school. They’d have to trek
through miles of forest — exposed to
animals like snakes, scorpions, and
wild boar — just to attend school. Now,
a bright yellow boat gets them there
in 20 minutes.
In 2013, the first yellow boats showed up on the lake.
Dr. John Michael Dellariarte had just launched what came
to be known as the Yellow Boats of Hope Foundation
with a group of his fellow medical students at Ateneo de
Zamboanga School of Medicine, one of THEnet’s partner
institutions. As an integral part of their socially accountable
medical education, Dr. John and his fellow students had
spent close to 50 percent of their training working in
Purok 11, a village on Mindanao, the southernmost major
island in the Philippine archipelago.
Dr. John and his colleagues soon learned that the
children from the village were walking all the way to
school and back. It was taking them 6 hours a day
round trip, five days a week.
Dr. John recognized that in addition to the burden of disease
or injury, a lack of adequate transportation was endangering
the health of children. Consistent with his training, he
rolled up his sleeves and worked with the community to
help solve the problem.
Dr. John and his student team
also spread the word on
Facebook about this appalling
situation. They crowd-sourced
the simple yet innovative idea
of raising money and recruiting
volunteers to build a few boats.
Soon, their Facebook campaign
went viral. “We started with 10
boats,” he said. “Now, more
than 65 communities across the
Philippines are participating in
the project.”
Today, the Yellow Boats of Hope
Foundation provides building
materials and training for
community members to become
boat-builders. That effort has
translated into livelihoods that
are fueling eco-
nomic development
across a formerly
neglected region
of the Philippines.
Best of all, the
children are
healthier and able
to sail to school
and back in record
time — not a snake
or scorpion in sight.
What does trans-
porting students in
yellow boats have
to do with training
health workers?
Everything, it turns out, when it comes to improving the
life and health of a community. What sets THEnet partner
schools apart from more traditional health workforce
institutions is that inculcated in the students is a deep
understanding that people’s health is affected not only by
infectious and chronic diseases, but also by the social
conditions in which they live. To treat patients effectively,
these social determinants must also be addressed.
For Dr. John, the best part of the story has to do with his
discovery of a new “we,” one that includes “friends, donors,
and at the center of it all, people from the villages that dot
the lake. They’re the ones who are helping each other
overcome the hardships of the landscape — one yellow
boat at a time.”
S o c i a l A c c o u n ta b i l i t y i n A c t i o n impact
“Now, more than 65 communities
across the Philippines are
participating in the project.”
10. Advocate
T
hrough research and
advocacy, THEnet is
amplifying the voices of
communities in need and
the innovative schools
and practitioners that serve them.
Is the socially accountable model
for health professional training
making the difference it aims to
make? Is health service delivery
becoming more equitable as
a result? And are communities
actually becoming healthier?
THEnet contends that the answer to
all three of these questions is “yes.”
THEnet is amassing a growing
body of evidence showing that
when students are recruited from
lower-income communities, a
high proportion of them return to
practice in their communities of
origin, or in similar communities
elsewhere in their countries. Who
receives training is just as important
as how they’re trained. Recruiting
students locally is proving to be
a major strategy in improving
THEnet is advocating on behalf of
socially accountable health professional
education, premised on evidence-based
research and universal human rights.
access to health services through
a more equitable distribution of
health practitioners. Our findings
have been published in such
journals as The Lancet, the World
Health Organization Bulletin, and
Academic Medicine.
As academic institutions adopt the
recommended changes, and as
their graduates begin to practice in
formerly neglected communities,
studies show that health improves,
sometimes quite markedly.
THEnet continues to influence
the global dialogue on health
workforce training. THEnet has
made significant contributions to
key policy documents issued by the
World Health Organization (WHO),
United Nations Commissions,
The World Bank, and The Lancet’s
Commission on the Education of
Health Professionals for the 21st
Century. THEnet also chairs an
independent working group of the
Health and Medicine Division of the
National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine, which
fosters research on new health
professional training models and
their impact on health outcomes.
94% of doctors
who completed
their under- and
post-graduate
education at
the Northern
Ontario School
of Medicine are
practicing in
the district.
11. The University of Transkei Faculty of
Health Sciences in South Africa was
established in 1985 to address the
severe shortage of health professionals
in Transkei, a largely rural area that is
home to more than 10% of the country’s
population.
Founded during the twilight years of apartheid, the strug-
gling new institution, renamed Walter Sisulu University
(WSU), faced formidable obstacles. Some of its opponents
said that “indigenous” health personnel lacked the training
and motivation to serve rural communities. Others insisted
that a school of public health would be more appropriate
in light of rural health needs.
At its inception, the institution became the focus of a
contentious debate among physicians, policymakers, and
educators: Should it embrace the Western model of health
professional education that locates student learning almost
exclusively in university classrooms and tertiary care hospi-
tals? Or was an altogether different model called for?
The school’s founders opted in favor of a model of educa-
tion grounded in the South African philosophy of Ubuntu,
or humanness, which is roughly parallel to the concept of
social accountability. All forms of teaching and learning
would be organized around community and patient needs.
Its programs and practices would be designed to alleviate
the major health problems affecting the Transkei population
by addressing the social, economic, and cultural dimensions
of ill health among
its majority black
population.
To attract more
black students from
Transkei commu-
nities, the new
institution adopted
a different set of
admissions criteria.
The new recruitment
policies would give
equal weight to
academic perfor-
mance and the
personal attributes considered predictive of success in the
health professions, such as relatedness, cultural sensitivity,
and listening skills.
WSU has also established a network of district hospitals
and health centers that are used as teaching platforms,
empowering communities and expanding opportunities for
students to learn by doing.
Today, the World Health Organization has recognized WSU’s
Faculty of Health Sciences as a leader in problem-based
learning and community-based education — the hallmarks
of its innovative curriculum — and as a resource for health
professional training programs across Africa.
A founding member of THEnet, the school offers a wide
spectrum of training programs in medicine, nursing, health
promotion, and
medical orthotics
and prosthetics, with
additional programs to
be rolled out over the
next several years.
Says Dean Dr. Wezile
Chitha, “The WSU
Faculty of Health
Sciences has really
come a long way since
1985. During apartheid
our education was
seen as inferior. Now,
schools from across the
African continent come
to learn from us!”
S o c i a l A c c o u n ta b i l i t y i n A c t i o n impact
“During apartheid our education
was seen as inferior, now schools
from across the African continent
come to learn from us!”
12. Harvest
A
t a time when global-
ization has created a
high degree of inter-
dependence among
national health systems,
we aim to place health equity, social
accountability, and community
engagement at the heart of health
workforce education everywhere.
THEnet focuses on the role of
education to effect meaningful
change in health equity by mobi-
lizing technological, intellectual,
and political resources. THEnet
cultivates a wealth of partnerships
that are taking root and blossoming
into lasting relationships among
all stakeholders in the system. And
THEnet advocates for the trans-
formation of health professional
education, engaging governments
and policy-setting institutions at the
regional, national, and global levels.
When educational institutions are
well resourced, outcome-oriented,
and socially accountable, they
produce the health workers the
world needs. They also become
hubs of research, analysis, and
innovation.
Building on the success of its
founding members to train a
fit-for-purpose workforce for under-
served areas, THEnet supports
reform by gathering evidence,
developing the capacity of schools
in disadvantaged regions, and
advocating for socially account-
able, community-engaged and
results-oriented health workforce
education.
Rather than defining health via
a contained set of criteria, THEnet
is promoting a vision of healthy
communities that relies on the
cooperation of many sectors of
society, including those responsible
for education, service delivery,
labor, transportation, housing,
nutrition, sanitation, and financing.
Given adequate support, THEnet
will help catalyze the change the
world so urgently needs.
Evaluations of
the impact of
the University
of Gezira Faculty
of Medicine
projects in
Sudan showed
a 70% reduction
in maternal and
child mortality
in Gezira State.
THEnet is reaping a harvest
of solutions that are improving
the health of children and
families worldwide.
13. Pajarito Mesa, just six miles south of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, offers its
residents a breathtaking view of the
surrounding landscape and plenty of
open space where their children can
play — but it doesn’t offer much else.
The Mesa is home to approximately
400 families, mostly undocumented
Spanish-speakers. The community lacks
such basic necessities as running water,
paved roads, safe housing, a sewage
system, and electricity.
The community is hiding in plain sight, said Dr. Will
Kaufman, a family practice physician who practices medi-
cine at a local clinic and earned his medical degree at the
University of New Mexico, a THEnet partner institution.
“Pajarito Mesa is a 10-minute drive from the clinic where
I work,” he said, “but I never even knew it existed.”
Will’s father, Dr. Arthur Kaufman — Vice Chancellor for
Community Health at the University of New Mexico and
a distinguished member of its faculty — introduced his son
to the Pajarito Mesa and its people, encouraging him to
provide them with
medical services
via a monthly
mobile clinic.
A proponent of
primary care and
community health,
Art exemplifies
his university’s
commitment to the
socially account-
able approach to
health professional
education. But his
son Will had to
experience his own
“aha” moment,
which came during
his first visit to
the Mesa, about
seven years ago.
Will was shocked
by the poverty
on the Mesa, but
shock quickly
turned into a
deep desire to
help. Will and
a physician-
colleague have
been bringing
medical services
to the community
on the Mesa
ever since.
Yet the basic challenge remains, Will said: “Right here, in
our own backyard, our neighbors, through no fault of their
own, are excluded from the health system. We’re their link
to that system and the modern world it represents. While
I’m honored to serve in this role, our larger aim is to change
the systemic structures that isolate the community and
prevent its members from receiving the services they so
desperately need.”
S o c i a l A c c o u n ta b i l i t y i n A c t i o n impact
Dr. Arthur Kaufman,
Vice Chancellor for Community Health
at the University of New Mexico
14. Invest in the future
with THEnet as we continue to support committed
institutions, faculty, and health practitioners in
communities the world
over. Consider making
a donation — or use your
influence to encourage
schools, governments,
and policy-setting orga-
nizations to adopt our
innovative Framework and
other practical tools. Help
us transform the training
of health professionals —
an under-recognized target for reform — and create
the basis for truly sustainable health equity.
DesignedandproducedbyJessicaWeberDesign,Inc.,www.jwdnyc.com/WrittenbyMargaretW.Crane
15. “There comes a point where we need to stop
just pulling people out of the river. We need to go
upstream and find out why they are falling in.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Health is an essential prerequisite
to a full and productive life.”
Melinda Gates
16. “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in
health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Training for Health Equity Network
www.thenetcommunity.org