Ghana and Liberia Present Updates to Health Systems at GHLI

Nina Gumkowski, GHLI Intern 

During the 2012 GHLI conference, delegates presented work progress in their individual countries over the past year. Ghana updated conference attendees on their work to “provide safe and effective mental health care.” During the past year, the Ghana delegation has focused on improving mental health services – with a main goal of getting the mental health bill passed. They also wanted to provide mental health care within communities so patients can remain close to home. Ghanaian delegates returned to Yale this year reporting success in these areas. In March, the mental health bill was passed by the parliament and this month, received Presidential approval. A curriculum for basic training in mental health for primary health care providers was developed for recent psychology undergrads entering the workforce so they could become community psychology officers. By discharging patients home to reunite with their families and providing support through psychology nurses in those patients’ districts, the delegates were also able to help decongest overflowing psychiatric hospitals. 

The Liberian delegation presented their endeavors to increase utilization of maternal health care services. In 2007, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Liberia was reported at 994/100,000 live births and ranked among the highest worldwide. A major contributing factor to the high MMR was the lack of antenatal care (ANC). Many expectant mothers generally access health facilities only after encountering severe complications during labor and or delivery. The delegates set out with two objectives: (1) to increase the number of ANC visits and (2) increase the number of facility-based deliveries. They tackled these objectives using IEC campaigns, clinical outreach services, maternity waiting homes (MWHs), and facility quality management in two counties, Margibi and Montserrado. They started community clinical and outreach activities, awareness and sensitization campaigns (including the billboard pictured) and consultative meetings. There was also a push for critical staff recruitment and training. Their efforts have shown a significant increase in the number of qualified and trained health care workers in these communities.

GHLI 2012 Conference Kicks Off with Reinforcing Words from Keynote Speakers

Nina Gumkowski, GHLI intern

The fourth GHLI conference began with a warm welcome to all delegates from faculty director of GHLI, Elizabeth Bradley and executive director of GHLI, Mike Skonieczny. Vice President and Secretary of Yale Linda Lorimer offered a keynote address focused on the internationalization of Yale. She stressed how important the development of international partnerships is to Yale’s mission to expand its reach into the global community. Lorimer reiterated that GHLI is “a centerpiece of the University’s internationalization efforts.”
After opening remarks, delegates met with David Berg, clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine and a specialist in organizational behavior, group dynamics and research methods. The delegates worked with Berg on how to build a conference community through the development of relationships at the individual, delegation and community level. To do so, attendants were given the chance to voice, openly and honestly, the achievements, challenges and concerns for their programs.
Later, the Ethiopian delegation presented work being done to establish a hospital alliance for quality health care which was followed by a breakout session where delegates from the other three countries talked in small groups with one or two of the individuals from Ethiopia. The breakout sessions facilitate lively discussion on the issues addressed in Ethiopia and have the members of different countries learn from each other’s experiences.
The day ended with a presentation by Zack Cooper, a health economist at the London School of Economics, who addressed the need for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of new policies. Often, new policies are not given enough funding for countrywide implementation. With RCTs, researchers can calculate the statistical differences that the policy changes made in certain implemented areas to provide solid evidence for the policy’s success.
Conversations continued during meals and coffee breaks with intermingling of different delegations and staff members. Several delegates mentioned how relieved they were to see that other countries were struggling with the same problems as their own. All attendants seemed to be looking forward to collaborating on remedies for certain problems. The events of the day provided a positive start to a week of relationship building and problem solving among global health care systems.