Foundations for Global Health Practice

Lori DiPrete Brown

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781118603635
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Public Health, Administration & Care

An essential introduction to global health in the modern world

Foundationsfor Global Health Practice offers a comprehensive introduction to global health with a focus on ethical engagement and participatory approaches. With a multi-sectoral perspective grounded in Sustainable Development Goals, the text prepares students for engagement in health care and public health and goes beyond traditional global health texts to include chapters on mental health, agriculture and nutrition, water and sanitation, and climate change. In addition to presenting core concepts, the book outlines principles for practice that enable students and faculty to plan and prepare for fieldwork in global health. The book also offers perspectives from global health practitioners from a range of disciplinary and geographic perspectives.

Exercises, readings, discussion guides and information about global health competencies and careers facilitate personal discernment and enable students to systematically develop their own professional goals and strategies for enriching, respectful, and ethical global health engagement.

• Understand the essential concepts, systems, and principles of global health
• Engage in up-to-date discussion of global health challenges and solutions
• Learn practical skills for engagement in health care and beyond
• Explore individual values and what it means to be an agent for change

Prevention, cooperation, equity, and social justice are the central themes of global health, a field that emphasizes the interdisciplinary, cross-sector, and cross-boundary nature of health care on a global scale. As the world becomes ever smaller and society becomes more and more interconnected, the broad view becomes as critical as the granular nature of practice. Foundationsfor Global Health Practice provides a complete and highly relevant introduction to this rich and rewarding field.

PART ONE
GLOBAL HEALTH CONCEPTS

CHAPTER 1
DEVELOPING A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Lori DiPrete Brown, MS, MTS

The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow.

—Paulo Freire

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand your responsibility to continually acquire and share global health perspectives and information as a contributing member of your learning community
• Identify and articulate the unique perspectives and experiences that you want to share within your community, and prepare to listen and learn from the perspectives and experiences of others
• Describe and access a variety of global health information sources that can inform global health work and study
• Consider literature and the arts as ways to inform and better understand health and well-being
• Create a personalized plan to use information sources, the arts, networks, and engagement to stay informed about global health

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You are probably studying global health because you are interested in engaging with people from around the world, and you want, in some way, to be a partner for global change. You might be aware that, while 3.2 billion people had access to the Internet in 2015 (International Telecommunications Union, 2016, June), approximately 2.1 billion people, in spite of progress in recent decades, lack access to a safe water supply at home, and 4.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2016). Further, 795 million people, nearly one in nine, are undernourished (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015). You might be concerned about disease outbreaks such as the Ebola or Zika viruses, or you might find excitement in the possibility of polio eradication, which is within reach if political will and technical know-how can come together to address it. Perhaps you are interested in combating maternal and infant mortality, which will require strategies that combine health care with nutritional support and overall poverty reduction. You might be motivated by issues related to the environment and health, with an interest in sustaining human life and caring for the earth at the same time. You likely already know that these matters form the action agenda for your generation, and that addressing these problems is a complex enterprise. These challenges can be overwhelming, the barriers are formidable, and yet you want to engage, because advancing global health and well-being is important to you. You want to learn, and you think you have something to offer.

You may be a student who has traveled extensively, or you may be preparing for your first journey. Many of you will be studying places that are completely new to you, hoping to understand and embrace cultural differences while you find a way to make an impact. Some of you are exploring countries or regions that are somehow part of your own heritage, hoping that your special knowledge and connection will be an asset, as you bridge distance and generations to live a global life. Others may be preparing to engage with health challenges and disparities in your own country and community, bringing a new global lens to a familiar place. Still others are interested in working “everywhere,” on issues that transcend national boundaries, such as infectious disease pandemics, the impact of climate change, and global resource scarcity. You aspire to work in the professions of health, education, engineering, agriculture, and governance. You are students of the biological sciences, the humanities and social sciences, the arts, and many other fields that can contribute to improved global health.

You and your classmates are motivated by many things, such as curiosity, a sense of justice, your faith, a spirit of adventure, a feeling of compassion and care for people, an interest in economic development, or a desire to foster peace or to promote the sustainability of our planet. You are part of a generation of students that has more access to information than any previous generation, and you are more interconnected than ever with other young people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The geographic, disciplinary, and human terrain to be covered is vast, and the global health field is dynamic, with new challenges and perspectives and innovations emerging constantly. What does a student like you expect to learn in a global health class? What should you expect from your teachers? And what should they expect from you?

The study of global health can embrace the rich and diverse information available through a pedagogy of joint learning. Course leaders offer core content and structure to the inquiry, drawing on their own expertise as well as guest lectures from the campus and the community. Students contribute information and perspectives from their life experiences. In this way, the global health class is a rich learning experience for faculty members and students alike. Your study will be informed by many voices, many disciplines, and intergenerational perspectives.

This chapter provides guidance toward gaining global perspectives from within your classroom community, and outlines how you can use a broad range of information sources from health and social sciences research, the popular media, literature, music, and art to develop a global worldview. To explore these matters further, consider the following chapters in part 3: Brian Simpson’s So You Want to Save the World? First, You’ve Got to Know It (chapter 21) and Louise Penner’s reflection, The Importance of Narrative to Global Health Research and Practice (chapter 37). Self-directed reading during your global health course will help you identify your specific interests, talents, and passions. It will also allow you to be a deliberative and well-informed citizen advocate for improved health—both locally and globally, now and in the future.

Sharing Perspectives in a Diverse Learning Community

Most students agree that the most rewarding and educational aspect of global health learning is the experiential learning that is undertaken in communities around the world. It can be easy to overlook the fact that your classroom itself is a global learning opportunity. Lectures, readings, and discussion topics include many academic disciplines and regions of the world, and content should be inclusive of diverse perspectives in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, so that learning integrates the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of historically marginalized populations.

Perspective taking is an important skill related to social responsibility and professional and civic engagement both locally and globally. It can be defined as “taking seriously the perspectives of others: recognizing and acting on the obligation to inform one’s own judgment; engaging diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work” (Dey and Associates, 2010, p. 1). The ability to learn from the perspectives of others, use evidence to support your own views, reconsider your opinions when presented with new information, and understand other points of view and maintain civil discourse with those who hold views different from your own are key components of perspective taking. Here we discuss some strategies for sharing diverse perspectives in your global health study.

Asking better questions. “Where are you from?” “What’s your major?” “What is your religion?” “What political party do you belong to?” “Are you an athlete?” “Do you belong to a frat?” “What are you doing for spring break?” “Why are you studying global health?” These are questions that we often use to learn about others. Although there is nothing wrong with these questions in themselves, we can see that they are aimed at categorization and finding sameness, rather than being more open ended and allowing people to share differences. Much information is gained from these questions, but they may tempt us to apply stereotypes instead of experiencing people as individuals, and they may inadvertently lead to feelings of exclusion.

If our engagement is intended to purposefully increase inclusivity, share values and life experiences, and also learn from differences, then we might consider alternative strategies for asking questions. If we exchange or complement categorizing questions with questions that are open ended, and leave the type and degree of disclosure to the respondent, we can give people a chance to share what they know and want to share. Examples of these types of questions include, “What would you like our class to know about you?” “What knowledge and life experiences would you like to share in relation to today’s topic?” “What do you hope to learn from others?” “Tell us more about your interests in global...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• About the Author
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One Global Health Concepts
• Part Two Global Health Practice
• Part Three Global Health Perspectives
• Glossary
• Index
• EULA