Jamaica Service Learning Project 2010

Introduction

Jamaica Project for the Students Engaged in Global Health (SEGH – a MSA-recognized student organization). We recently received approval for our group to work with the Blue Mountain Project (BMP) at Hagley Gap and Penlyn, Jamaica. Our group consists of 5 global health-minded students from the business, policy, and public health schools in Students Engaged in Global Health (SEGH). The BMP works with the local communities in healthcare, education, and other community development such as co-ops for women.

Brief Overview of Our Project and BMP

The BMP operates 2 clinics with only 1 RN and 1 administrative staff for both the Hagley Gap and Penlyn communities. The only time that the community receives primary medical care is when medical student groups or retired physician groups visit. The majority of our time in the field will focus on developing protocols and an operational efficiency strategy for the 2 clinics. As part of the project, we will working in collaboration with the clinic leadership and local staff to conduct a current-state and impact analysis to create a set of implementable recommendations to improve operations and coordination of volunteer medical groups. There are also opportunities to improve the quality and access of healthcare by standardizing practices, decreasing hassle factors, decreasing costs, and thus, improving community health. A part of our time will also be spent talking with local staff to better understand their concerns regarding operational issues at the health center, and working with them to design and implement a set of recommendations.

We are going to be working with the medical students (the main stakeholders) to find a feasible strategy that will implemented for BMP and beneficial to BMP and the surrounding community. This project is designed to be high-impact and actionable – not merely a report that will describe the ideal to BMP.

In addition, this project was designed with the support of the Blue Mountain Project, and we aim to collaborate with those at the clinics to implement sustainable changes that will be valued by both patients and health clinic staff. Please see the following page information on the logistics of the trip.

Project Objectives

· Develop an operational efficiency strategy for medical professionals including an evaluation of current-state operations and impact, and a set of recommendations to improve standardization across volunteer groups

· Train 2 FT nurses that are currently at 2 sites – Hagley Gap and Penlyn Castle on above strategy and begin implementation of recommendations

· Follow-up on a water filtration project begun by engineering students

· Teach healthy behaviors to primary school children

· Develop student leadership skills in the field

The group will be departing for Jamaica on May 5th and returning May 10th. We will have a post about our team before we leave and more posts to come regarding different aspects of our projects and life living with host families when we return.

That's a wrap!

The term if winding down and we won't be having another Brown Bag Film Club meeting this year. But don't worry, there are still plenty of global health videos out there for you to get your fix over the Summer! I just wanted to leave you with a few links to some good ones.

Global Health Council: http://www.globalhealth.org/view_top.php3?id=689
The Global Health Council has a list of links to videos on a range of global health topics -- some of them are ones we've watched already. Check it out, it looks like there are some good stuff (like Madonna interviewing Paul Farmer!)

Rx for Survival: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/video/index.html
The video on the smallpox eradication program is located here. There's also a video on oral re-hydration therapy, and various other vaccination and eradication initiatives.

NOVA video archive: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archive/int_heal.html
NOVA has a lot of videos on health issues available on line. These include documentaries on child health, HIV/AIDS, women and maternal health in Ethiopia, and one that follows a US army mobile medical unit that provides treatment for communities in Iraq. Those last ones cover some issues that don't get a whole lot of attention, and are pretty interesting, but a little intense. There are also other videos here focused that don't focus on global issues, but they're good.

Frontline: Sick Around America: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundamerica/
Earlier this term we watched most of the mini documentaries in the Frontline series "Sick Around the World." This video, which focuses on the US system, is the followup to those videos. Together these documentaries provide an interesting context to think about how Global Health is a two-way street, and how we can all learn from each other!

OK, thanks to everyone who participated in the SEGH BBFC, either by coming to the screenings or just watching on line. Hope everyone has a great summer!

Today we'll watch another video from the BBC's "Rx for Survival" series. It's about Sleeping Sickness, which infects a lot of people but doesn't get the same attention as diseases like HIV and Malaria. Here's the link:

Rx for Survival

PBS did a good series on global health challenges called "Rx for Survival." This week in the SEGH Film Club we'll be watching portions of the film "Disease Warriors," which looks at the smallpox eradication campaign in the 60s and 70s (pretty much the most famous global public health effort ever) and a similar recent campaign to eradicate polio.

Stop by to watch these videos about the past and present (and future if we have time!) of global eradication programs.

If you can't make it, you can see these and other videos in the "Rx for Survival" series here:

Sick Around the World

This week we'll be watching excerpts from the PBS Frontline documentary, "Sick Around the World." Which looks at the health systems in 5 countries: The UK, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. As the Frontline website says, "each has a health care system that delivers health care for everyone -- but with remarkable differences."

You can access the videos here:

Survival - The Deadly Combination

This week we'll be screening an episode of the BBC's very cool Survival documentary series. "The Deadly Combination" examines the impact that extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB is having on people and societies. It deals with some controversial approaches, such as quarantine, to dealing with the illness.

Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, you can view the documentary here:

TAC: the first 5 years

This week in the SEGH film club we'll be watching a short film called "Treatment Action Campaign: the first 5 years." TAC is an organization in South Africa that was pivotal in expanding access to ARV treatment for HIV+ people there. Find out more about TAC here, and view the video (in 3 parts) below: