GHP 547: Field Experience in Maternal Health

WINTER SESSION 2017

PROFESSOR: DR. ANA LANGER

Maternal health: a global public health priority

• Maternal morbidity and mortality affect the most vulnerable young women, newborns, children, families and communities

• Complications are often unpredictable

• Big equity gaps in terms of timely access to quality maternal health care

• Ending preventable maternal mortality: Focus of the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals

2

Dean’s Flagship Initiative on Women and Health

Established in July 2010 The W&HI focuses on two areas: 1) Women’s health needs throughout the life cycle

2) Women’s roles as caregivers in the health care system, homes and communities

…..and the links between these two components.

Maternal Health Task Force

Program that brings together global and country-level organizations to improve maternal health in low resource settings through:

• Knowledge management • Scientific exchange and consensus building activities • Mentoring and training of young professionals; • Implementation research on quality of maternal health care,

integration, and other priority issues • Global policy advocacy on maternal health

GHP 547

GHP 547: Field Experience in Maternal Health will provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge to maternal health issues in low resource settings through direct experiences with Maternal Health Task Force partner organizations. Each student’s experience is individually designed to meet the needs of both the student and the host organization

Course Objectives

1

2

3

Describe, analyze and discuss the status of maternal health globally and in each student’s destination country

Identify creative opportunities for research, local capacity building, and translation of knowledge into practice

Develop partnerships with individuals and organizations working to advance maternal health

Communicate effectively about maternal health with relevant stakeholders in a variety of settings

4 Conceptualize and examine a research question in the field of maternal health, and identify an approach to address it 5

• St. John’s Research Institute (SJRI), India

• Icddr,b, Bangladesh

• Transaid, Madagascar and Nigeria

• Management and Development for Health, Tanzania

• Population Council, Kenya

• Jacaranda Health, Kenya

• Secretariat of Health, Mexico City, Mexico

• Global Financing Facility, World Bank, Washington DC

• UNFPA, New York

Selected previous host organizations

Past Student Projects

Sarah Hodin, MPH • Jacaranda Health, Kenya • Created a pilot program implementing social/group

components into antenatal care services • Completed a detailed implementation plan, curriculum guide,

and monitoring & evaluation plan

Leigh Senderowicz, MPH • Secretariat of Health, Mexico • Conducted research both in public abortion clinics and

administrative offices • Post data collection wrote a paper which has been presented

at several conferences and is pending publication

9

Projects (examples)

• Interview community health workers’ about experiences with mHealth tools before national scale-up

• Collect baseline data from hospital deliveries in order

to develop training materials adapted to the local context

• Improve a qualitative measurement tool for use in a

pay-for-performance project • Coordinate the evaluation of a fistula project

SAM

PLE

SC

HED

ULE

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3

Morning: Meet with the point person at host organization; general overview of the project and introduction to staff members Lunch: At the office Afternoon: Development of draft interview guide for community health workers

Morning: Finalize interview guide and prepare for meetings Lunch: At the office Afternoon: Meetings with health center staff and community leaders

Morning: Field visit to community health center and interviews with health workers Lunch: In the field Afternoon: De-briefing meeting with supervisor at the office; transcription of interviews

• Register! • Participate in a short interview with the teaching team • Identify host organization and learn about their work • Develop scope of work in dialogue with your host

organization and MHTF staff • Learn about the culture and status of maternal health in

your placement country • Participate in two sessions to discuss maternal health and

cover course logistics • Come to office hours, as needed

Pre-departure

• 25% of economy round-trip airfare (as funded by the Office for Student Services) up to a set limit, based upon the airfare between Boston and the location of travel, regardless of where the student originates the trip

• Students are also eligible for a contribution towards per-diem expenses, based

upon the length of the trip and will be determined by available funds. In past years, the contribution has hovered around $75 to $100 per week of travel.

• MHTF will provide up to 10 students with $1,000 in travel support after the

completion of the course.

Estimated costs

14

Additional Funding Sources

Look for J-Term Winter Session Scholarships or Grants through individual schools, such as: • Committee for African Studies • Center for Asia • David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies All deadlines and criteria for application can be found on their individual websites

• Interested students must submit the common application by 11:59pm on Wed, September 14, 2016 indicating that GHP547 is his/her fist choice on the winter session common application

• Students will be selected based on their interest in maternal health as well as relevant experiences in the field • Up to 10 students in good standing at Harvard Chan will be admitted with notifications going out by Mon, October 3, 2016

Wrapping Up

PHOTO CREDITS

© 2006 AJ Fanthome, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2008 Arturo Sanabria, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2006 Jacob Simkin, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2009 Micah Albert, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2007 Paul Jeffrey/ACT-Caritas, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2007 Peter Verbiscar-Brown, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2009 Rajal Thaker, Courtesy of Photoshare © 2007 Nathaniel Segaren, Courtesy of Photoshare