Working Together For Health

 Efforts to improve public health occur around the world every day. However, simply attempting to fix a problem without acknowledging, and respecting, the relationship between culture and health is not likely to have long-term success. Successful interventions, such as those in the case studies presented in your resources, demonstrate organizational collaboration. They also highlight the value of cultural relativism to improve population health outcomes. Working for the people (and with the people) can make an important impact on health. 

To prepare for this Discussion, review Chapter 2, “Communities Working to Achieve Health Equity,” in the Promoting Health Equity document from Week 2. Select onecase study to profile in your discussion. How do the key concepts, addressed in this week’s Learning Resources, relate to the case study you selected?

By Day 4, post a comprehensive assessment of the following for your case study:

1. Briefly describe the population and health issue addressed in the case study. 
2. In what way did cultural beliefs and behaviors contribute to the health issue in these case studies?
3. Which public health (or other) groups intervened, and how did they cooperate to improve health for this population?
4. What measures did the organization take to ensure they respected the dignity of the individuals and their culture?
5. How does this case study relate to our class resources addressing culture and collaboration?
 

Resources:

UNICEF http://www.unicef.org

AMFAR http://www.amfar.org/

WHO http://www.who.int/en/

PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO) http://new.paho.org

http://www.ifrc.org

http://www.globalhealth.gov/

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

http://www.care.org

http://www.fordfoundation.org/

Resource to file below:

 Brennan Ramirez, L. K., Baker, E. A., & Metzler, M. (2008). Promoting healthy equity: A resource to help communities address social determinants of health. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (PDF) 

* Read section 2, “Case studies from US”