Issue 55 | The Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) Social Accountability and Interprofessional Education

“Pioneering spirit should continue, not to conquer the planet...but rather to improve the quality of life.”

— Bertrand Piccard

We are thrilled to announce our latest edition, “The Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) Social Accountability and Interprofessional Education.” We had the pleasure of again partnering with The Network: TUFH to bring you this special edition featuring global health pioneers working across sectors to improve the quality of life for citizens in ecosystems throughout regions around the world.

The Network curated this edition in an effort to highlight the pioneering work happening globally that is promoting and advancing social accountability and professional education. The Network believes that “Universal Access and Equitable Health Delivery can only be achieved when there is coordination, sharing, and capacity building between and within Academic Institutions, Health Systems, and Communities. By serving as the global connector between these three sectors (“The Network of Networks”) they are fostering the creation of new knowledge and collective solutions, building capacity within institutions and systems, and informing regional and global policy. The Network: TUFH aims to create a well-coordinated collective repository of innovations, best practices, and research that educates, builds capacity, and informs systems and policy coalitions and leaders toward rich discussion and debate in order to improve upon regional and global health policies” (https://thenetworktufh.org/about/).

In 2019, we see global trends emerging such as an increased focus on social and environmental determinants of health, dramatically rising health care costs, and increasing inequity in health outcomes. Layered with advances in data and information technology, these conditions have become more apparent to the public. We also are seeing a new era of social accountability. Social Accountability and Interprofessional Education have been identified as critical best practices to drive better health outcomes. However, there still exists a gap between systemic implementation and adoption and this blueprint for more equitable, sustainable, and holistic health care. We believe this edition is an important step in moving towards closing this gap to improved health care for all people.

We are excited to feature the talented practitioners of this “Network of Networks” who are building the bridge to the future through the health field and their articles that shed light on a promising path forward to improved health care and outcomes for people across the globe. We hope you too learn from these individuals operating at the cutting edge of global health and incorporate their best practices into your work, ideas, and policies that will help to shape our collective future and make improved care a reality for all people.

Yours in Social Innovation (and Accountability),

Mike Clark, President, Social Innovations Partners
Alescia M. Dingle, Managing Editor, Social Innovations Journal

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Article Summaries 

Application of the Appreciative Inquiry Model for Managing Change towards Social Accountability of Medical Schools

Mohamed Elhassan Abdalla, MB.BS, MHPE, PhD, FAcadMed, College of Medicine/Medical Education Center, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Social Accountability of Medical Schools is facing a delay in turning from the conceptual phase into the real day-to-day work of medical schools. One of the reasons for this delay is the lack of training of faculty members on how to move towards social accountability. This article aims to introduce the appreciative model approach with its 5D-model as a feasible and positive change model to be used by faculty members and schools’ leadership to move social accountability forward.

 

Social Accountability as the Framework for The Moral Obligations of Health Institutions -- A Call to Action for an Academic Health Sciences Institution 

Dr. Alex Anawati, MD, CCFP-EM, ER Physician Health Sciences North, Assistant Faculty, Board of Directors and Global Health Coordinator NOSM

Social accountability in medicine is an inspiring concept for health professionals, health administrators, academics, policymakers, and for the public. To date, social accountability has largely been constrained to medical education, but its potential to positively disrupt other health institutions outside of medical schools cannot be underestimated. A call-to-action for the adaptation of a social accountability framework from medical education was issued to an Academic Health Sciences Institution (AHSI) in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. In response, the AHSI identified its need to “Be Socially Accountable” as a top priority.

 

Program Development for Global Citizenship Competences: Start in Your Heart

Geraldine Beaujean, Director SHE Collaborates, Maastricht University

Universities carry the responsibility to offer students exposure to society outside of the academic world to create a healthy world, and to use well, every power we have. Universities should contribute to “character building” during the years young adolescents spend a lot of time within these institutions by sending them into society, whether locally, regionally, globally, or a mix. Staff as well as students should be brave enough to look into their hearts and start every undertaking with an open mind to join forces with the community to work on and promote sustainable, inclusive solutions.

 

From Classrooms to Neighborhoods; A Reality for Which Students Must Be Prepared

Alejandro Avelino Bonilla

Recently graduated doctors might not be prepared to meet the needs of the community, this is a worldwide phenomenon and is related to two major objectives that educational institutions seek: Accreditation and Social Accountability. Both may have characteristics in common, but they are not equal and this disparity impacts the training of health students.

 

The Prospects of a Community-based Nutrition and Education Intervention During the Recovery Phase of a Disaster as Experienced on the Ground

Julieta B. Dorado, MS, Emily O. Rongavilla, MS; Joanne Jette L. Semilla; and Rowena V. Viajar, MS, Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Taguig City, Philippines

This article focuses on innovation as a nutrition intervention which will aid and protect vulnerable young children along with their mothers who are mostly women of reproductive age during the recovery phase of a crisis or disaster situation. This nutrition strategy combines complementary feeding of local-based complementary foods (for the children) and nutrition education (for their mothers or caregivers). The participation (involvement) of the children in nutrition intervention during the rehabilitation phase of a disaster is a contribution towards ensuring healthy survival and development within the age group of children 6 months to under 3 years of age. While the participation of mothers involves educating them in terms of food, nutrition and health which are approaches to empowering these women. The community or the temporary shelters where the affected families are located shall be the setting for implementation. Involvement of the community officials and community workers are needed to implement the innovation. The community workers shall be empowered through training on how to implement the intervention. The impact of the innovation may be gauged on the improvement or maintenance of the normal nutritional status of children participants while the effects of nutrition education among mothers could be measured in terms of knowledge gained and translation of knowledge to practice in their daily lives. 

 

Interprofessional Health Education Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean: Situation Analysis and Implementation Plans in 19 Countries

José Rodrigues Freire Filho, José Francisco García Gutiérrez, Silvia Helena De Bortoli Cassiani, and Fernando Antonio Menezes da Silva

In recent years, Interprofessional Education (IPE) has been introduced into policies in human resources for health (HRH) in the countries of the Region of the Americas, predominately in the United States and Canada, but also in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) has encouraged its Member States to adopt this approach and support policymakers in expanding its use. PAHO’s Strategy on Human Resources for Universal Access to Health and Universal Health Coverage and its Plan of Action 2018-2023 encourage countries to promote the development of interprofessional teams in integrated health services networks using IPE, diversifying learning settings, and promoting collaborative practice. The objective of this article is to present an overview of national IPE plans developed with PAHO/WHO support in 19 countries of LAC during 2017-2019 along with its methods utilized.

 

Health Professions Education Programs Reorientation Towards Social Accountability: The ENACIER Model

Michel N Maboh, Aminkeng Z Leke, and Pauline B Nyenti

Cameroon is a nation that on average still has almost half of its population living in rural areas. Some schools that train health professionals use rural communities for community health internship placements. The most prevalent form of community internship uses a model where students go into the community, collect data on health indicators, and write a report which they submit in school for their grades. These communities expressed the desire to see some form of intervention as opposed to the data collection orientation that all the schools were using. To address this problem, the nursing curriculum was modified to increase the school’s social accountability to rural communities and expand leadership competencies in nursing students. The ENACIER model (empower, negotiate, assess, collaborate, intervention, evaluate and report) was developed and at its core was an intensive training using a 12-hour curriculum. It prepared undergraduate nursing students to leverage technology like point-of-care testing and local resources through community participation, to address one identified health-related problem during a 12-week internship. They will then work with community individuals and groups to solve this problem with the resources available within the community. Thus, with the students’ help, communities were able to prioritize their own problems and implement indigenous solutions within their own resources.

 

Interdisciplinary Teaching in Rural Settings to Enhance Multidisciplinary Team Care: The RIPL Effect

Sandra Mendel, Karen Beattie, Jane Thompson, Robyn Vines, Kam Wong, Jannine Bailey, Krista Cockrell, Buck Reed, Tim McCrossin, and Ross Wilson of Bathurst Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Bathurst NSW Australia & School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, and Campbelltown NSW Australia

Our article describes a rural interprofessional learning (RIPL) program that has been integrated into the curriculum of the Bathurst Rural Clinical School, as well as our evaluation of the effectiveness of this type of teaching and the benefits we believe are gained from working in a team to deliver best health outcomes for rural Australia.

 

Building on Tradition to Promote Excellence in Social Accountability for Health Professions Education at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Toni-Ann Mundle, Nikolai Nunes, and Dr. Tomlin Paul (Dean of The Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies)

Social accountability can be nurtured in health professionals’ education by redirecting the tenets of teaching, research, and outreach to address priority needs of the community. This article seeks to address the following question: Due to its great significance, how do students and staff of health professional schools further adapt to the diverse needs of patients, particularly those from rural and under-served areas?

 

Canadian Medical Schools Addressing Francophone Minority Needs

Aurel Schofield, C.M., CCMF, FCMF, Franco Doc Project Director, Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada; Danielle Barbeau-Rodrigue, Director, Francophone Affairs, Northern Ontario School of Medicine; and Philippe Leblanc, AFMC, Franco Doc Project Coordinator

The Francophone minorities across Canada have less access to French speaking health care services. These linguistic barriers have a negative impact on access to health care services, the experience and satisfaction of users, and on the equity of services offered. The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada partnered with two community organizations, the Société Santé en Français and Médecin Francophone Canada to form a resource group to address this problem. Once the financial support from Health Canada was secured, a faculty-community liaison committee was established in each Anglophone medical school across Canada. They are composed of faculty members, medical students, and community health networks that engage in activities that benefit all partners. By placing the communities at the center of the initiative, this allows them to take an active part in educating learners and the medical schools about the Francophone minorities’ needs and realities. The project has had a positive impact thus far and its collaborative approach with community partners, learners, and medical faculties will lead to an increase in linguistic competencies of future clinicians and to the active offer of French-language services in Francophone minority communities

Issue 55