GHLI Conference Visited by Ghana Dignitary

His Excellency John Dramani Mahama (center); Yale University President Richard Levin (far left); and Dr. Elizabeth Bradley, faculty director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute (far right), join 2011 Global Health Leadership Institute Conference delegates from Ghana.

Last Thursday, the GHLI Conference opened with a talk from GHLI research scientist Leslie Curry, who presented on the importance of evaluation and learning in health care leadership roles. She focused specifically on the power of positive deviation -- the idea that solutions to a problem facing a community, often reside within that community.  “We have adapted this approach to study health care organizations. Because the solutions are developed by peers, they are more credible, feasible and likely to be adopted and sustained over time,” explains Curry.  “This approach offers great promise in our efforts to identify and spread best practices in health care and ultimately to improve health care and health systems globally.”  Curry later opened the floor to delegates who shared their experiences with evaluation and learning in the health sectors of their own countries.

The visit of Vice President John Dramani Mahama from Ghana was a highlight of the day.  Mr. Mahama first met privately with Yale President Richard Levin and then with Ghana delegates, Yale faculty and representatives from South Essex Partnership Trust to discuss the treatment and perception of mental health in his country. He explained that currently, one out of four residents in Ghana is affected by some form of mental illness.  And, due to the lack of physicians and clinical care facilities, most of these people are ostracized from society and their families.  “I hope with Yale’s help, we can begin to erase the stigma associated with mental illness and provide quality care for those who are suffering,” he stated.  When Mr. Mahama addressed all conference participants at lunch, he commented on how pleased he was that delegates from Ghana were addressing the topic of mental health care needs and said he hoped Conference participants  "go back home more confused" because that means they are looking at the issues in new and different ways. The Vice President also mentioned that he is eager to work together with the Ghana delegates to get a mental health bill passed.

President Levin offered a toast at lunch applauding the delegates’ deep commitment to health care and thanked them for "bringing ideas and energy to Yale." President Levin went on to say that the GHLI Conference underscores Yale's long standing commitment to educating our students for service and leadership. He then asked all to raise their glass to "all those bettering the lives of people around the world through the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute."

The day ended with a ceremony in which the delegates from all five countries were presented with certificates for their participation in this conference.


Nina Gumkowski, GHLI Intern

GHLI Conference – in Progress

The second day of the 2011 GHLI Conference opened with Dr. Elizabeth Bradley providing an overview of the upcoming week's events to the delegates from the five countries and a keynote address by Yale University Provost Peter Salovey.  Provost Salovey discussed his research on emotional intelligence and how this type of intelligence affects interaction in leadership skills and among cultures.   His research outlines how to measure emotional intelligence by testing a person's ability to: perceive, express use, understand and manage emotions. This scoring system demonstrates that high emotional intelligence can be correlated with lower self destructive behavior and higher likability and job approval among colleagues. Partly due to the attention Provost Salovey’s research has brought to the topic, emotional intelligence has become a tool worldwide used both in business and educational settings.

Yale University Vice President and Secretary, Linda Lorimer, addressed the delegates to emphasis how important the GHLI and this Conference is to Yale.  “This is an amazing gathering of minds and our real hope is that, as the week proceeds, you all find ways to constructively contribute to the issues of your country.”  She also stressed to the crowd how Yale is invested in helping the next generation of leaders and is particularly interested in further developing relationships in South Africa.

Delegates representing five African countries gave presentations and led discussions about the health system and area of innovation on which they will focus during the conference. Ethiopia, the first country to present, focused on hospital management performance improvement; Ghana discussed mental health framework for implementation of a new mental health bill; Liberia and South Africa presented on maternal and child health and Rwanda delegates discussed human resources for health.

Nina Gumkowski, GHLI Intern

2011 Yale Global Health Leadership Institute Conference Begins

Michael Skonieczny

Michel Sidibé

 The Yale Global Health Leadership Institute began its 2011 Conference on Sunday with an opening welcome by GHLI Executive Director, Michael Skonieczny.  “We have two goals for your experience at this Conference,” said Mr. Skonieczny to the 25 delegate representatives from the participating countries of Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda, Liberia and Ghana. “Our first goal is to work with each delegation to apply strategic problem solving skills and tools to address each country’s health system challenge that they have brought to the conference.  The second, an equally important goal, is to create a venue for you the delegates to share with each other on your own experiences in dealing with these challenges and other health issues your countries face.”

          Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, was the keynote speaker who shared his thoughts on the collective achievements and vision for the future of HIV/AIDS.  Reviewing 30 years of the AIDS epidemic, Mr. Sidibé called AIDS a “unique story of outrage and a passionate call for action” and the only disease for which a social movement has been created.  Mr. Sidibé said that progress in the fight against AIDS will require taking AIDS out of isolation, fostering links between scientific evidence and leaders, and making AIDS a more integrated part of other global health efforts.

          Now in its third year, the GHLI Conference was created to provide a forum for free exchange among all attendants about their health care and health systems issues.  The Conference will continue through June 10^th when participants will be accompanied back to each of their countries with a GHLI Student Fellow.  The students will reside in their respective country delegation for eight to 10 weeks assisting delegates implement the plans created during the Conference.  

Nina Gumkowski, GHLI Intern