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How will we turn a climate change and health resolution at the World Health Assembly into local action?
This video was prepared by the World Health Organization with voices of health workers speaking at the Special Event “From community to planet” hosted by The Geneva Learning Foundation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYdH3OrNB90
The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) has developed a new model that could help address the urgent challenge of climate change impacts on health by empowering and connecting health workers who serve communities on the receiving end of those impacts.
This model leverages TGLF’s track record of facilitating large-scale peer learning networks to generate locally-grounded evidence, elevate community voices, and drive policy change.
A key strength of TGLF’s approach is its ability to rapidly connect diverse networks of health workers across geographic and health system boundaries.
For example, in March 2020, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, TGLF worked with a group of 600 of its alumni – primarily government staff working in local communities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America – to develop the Ideas Engine.
Learn more: What is The Geneva Learning Foundation’s Ideas Engine?
Within two weeks, the Ideas Engine had connected over 6,000 immunization staff from 90 countries to share strategies for maintaining essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within just 10 days, participants contributed 1,235 ideas and practices.
They then developed and implemented recovery plans, learning from and supporting each other.
Within three months, over a third of participants reported successfully implementing their plans, informed by these crowdsourced insights.
This illustrates how peer learning – a tenet of TGLF’s model – can facilitate and accelerate problem-solving.
The Ideas Engine became a core component of TGLF’s model for turning knowledge into action, results, and impact.
TGLF has also demonstrated the model’s effectiveness in informing global health policy initiatives.
Working with the Wellcome Trust, TGLF mobilized – in the first year – over 8,000 health professionals from 99 low- and middle-income countries to take ownership of the goals of the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) strategy.
This participatory approach generated over 500,000 data points in just four months, providing IA2030 stakeholders with valuable, contextually-grounded evidence to inform decision-making.
Fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation among health workers lays the groundwork for a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable approach to global health in the face of accelerating climate change.
Applying this model to the climate and health nexus, TGLF supported 4,700 health workers from 68 countries in 2023 to share observations of changes in climate and health in the communities they serve.
Over 1,200 observations highlighted the diverse and severe consequences already being experienced.
See what we learned: Investing in the health workforce is vital to tackle climate change: A new report shares insights from over 1,200 on the frontline
This demonstrates the feasibility of rapidly generating a new kind of evidence base on local climate-health realities.
Furthermore, if we assume that each health worker could reduce the climate-related health burden for those they serve by a modest five percent, a million health workers connected to and learning from each other could make a significant dent in climate-attributable disease and death.
This illustrates the model’s potential to achieve population-level impact, beyond sharing knowledge and strengthening capacity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ModBatuNefg
At Teach to Reach 10 on 20-21 June 2024, over 20,000 health workers will be sharing experience of their responses to the impacts of climate change on health. Learn more…
It is important to note that TGLF’s approach differs from models that work through health professional associations in several key ways.
First, it directly engages health workers across all levels of the health system, not just those in leadership positions.
Second, it focuses on peer learning and locally-led action, rather than top-down dissemination of information.
Third, it leverages digital technologies to connect health workers across geographies and hierarchies, enabling rapid exchange of insights and innovations at the point of need.
Finally, it embeds participatory and citizen science methods to ensure solutions are grounded in community needs and that everyone can contribute to climate and health science.
TGLF’s model offers a complementary pathway to address current global priorities of generating novel evidence on climate-health impacts in ways that are directly relevant and useful to communities facing them.
This model can help fill critical evidence gaps, identify locally-adapted solutions, and build momentum for transformative change.
TGLF’s track record in mobilizing collective intelligence to drive impact in global health crises suggest transferability to the climate and health agenda.
As the world grapples with the accelerating health threats posed by climate change, investing in health workers as agents of resilience has never been more urgent or important.
#BMGF #climateAndHealth #GlobalClimateAndHealthAlliance #health #IdeasEngine #ImmunizationAgenda2030 #localAction #MariaNeira #TheGenevaLearningFoundation #Wellcome #WHA77 #WorldHealthAssembly -
International Nurses Day: Climate change and health
English version | Version française
On International Nurses Day, The Geneva Learning Foundation stands in solidarity with the over 28 million nurses worldwide who form the backbone of health systems globally.
As an organization dedicated to researching, developing, and implementing new approaches to learning and leadership for health, we recognize the vital role of nurses in driving progress towards global health goals, including the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.
Nurses represent a significant proportion of participants in our Teach to Reach peer learning programme, which exemplifies commitment to lifelong learning and desire to connect with and learn from colleagues around the world to improve practice.
Teach to Reach is the world’s largest health peer learning event, bringing together tens of thousands of health professionals, primarily from low- and middle-income countries, in dynamic digital convenings. Request your invitation
It exemplifies our vision of empowering health workers as agents of change through digitally-enabled collaborative learning and knowledge sharing.
For its tenth edition on 20-21 June 2024, Teach to Reach focused on the critical issue of climate change and health.
Nurses are already finding themselves on the frontlines in supporting communities to navigate the increasing health risks posed by a changing climate.
As trusted members of the communities they serve, nurses are uniquely positioned to strengthen resilience and lead adaptations to protect health.
Through platforms like Teach to Reach, The Geneva Learning Foundation aims to elevate nurses’ voices and insights, facilitating the rapid exchange of locally-tailored solutions to shared challenges.
We call on global health leaders to recognize the expertise that nurses hold as a result of their proximity to communities, and to systematically include nurses in policy dialogues and decision-making on the health impacts of climate change.
On this International Nurses Day, we reaffirm our commitment to leveraging the power of digital networks and innovative learning approaches to support nurses in their vital work to protect and promote health.
Through strong partnerships and by empowering nurses as leaders, we believe it is possible to build resilient, equitable and sustainable health systems in a changing climate.
#climateChangeAndHealth #InternationalCouncilOfNursesICN_ #InternationalNursesDay #TeachToReach
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World Malaria Day 2024: We need new ways to support health workers leading change with local communities
English version | Version française
Today, on World Malaria Day, the Geneva Learning Foundation is proud to stand with health workers on the frontlines of the fight against this deadly disease.
Malaria remains a critical global health challenge, disproportionately affecting communities in Africa and Asia.
That’s why we’re putting malaria at the heart of the agenda for Teach to Reach 10, our landmark event connecting tens of thousands of health workers worldwide to share their experiences, successes, and challenges.
Teach to Reach is a unique platform that enables health workers to learn from each other, contribute to global knowledge, and drive local action on pressing health issues.
At Teach to Reach 10 this June, we will be focusing on the urgent threat of climate change to health, with a special emphasis on how changing environmental conditions are altering the landscape of malaria risk and response.
Read Gavi’s article about our work: Global problems, local solutions: the health workers helping communities brace for climate change
World Malaria Day: Health worker leadership is critical to an integrated view of malaria response by and for local communities
As our recent report “On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report” highlighted, health workers are already witnessing firsthand how climate shifts are affecting disease patterns and burdening health systems.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and changing rainfall patterns are creating ideal conditions for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to thrive, putting communities at greater risk.
Health workers like Yapoulouce Bamba from Guinea have observed this worrying trend: “The degradation of the environment has created more breeding grounds for mosquitoes. During the rainy season, there is a noticeable exponential increase in mosquito populations, which in turn raises the number of malaria cases.”
World Malaria Day: From global governance to local action: how Teach to Reach can contribute to turning the Yaoundé Declaration into local action
At Teach to Reach 10, we’ll be discussing how to turn the commitment of African leaders in the Yaoundé Declaration into locally-led action to accelerate action against malaria.
By bringing together health workers to share local solutions and build resilience, we are supporting the Declaration’s call for investment in research and innovation, cross-border collaboration, and engagement of communities as partners in the malaria fight.
Teach to Reach embodies the Declaration’s vision of supporting those at the forefront of the malaria fight with the knowledge, tools, and solidarity they need to drive transformative impact in their communities.
We need new ways to learn and lead
On this World Malaria Day, we invite all those committed to ending malaria to join us in listening to and learning from frontline health workers.
Their voices, experiences, and leadership are key to driving the local action and global collaboration needed to overcome this persistent threat in a changing climate.
New ways to learn and lead are vital so that we can build a healthier, malaria-free future for all.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#HumanResourcesForHealth #locallyLedAction #malaria #TeachToReach #WorldMalariaDay
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World Malaria Day 2024: We need new ways to support health workers leading change with local communities
English version | Version française
Today, on World Malaria Day, the Geneva Learning Foundation is proud to stand with health workers on the frontlines of the fight against this deadly disease.
Malaria remains a critical global health challenge, disproportionately affecting communities in Africa and Asia.
That’s why we’re putting malaria at the heart of the agenda for Teach to Reach 10, our landmark event connecting tens of thousands of health workers worldwide to share their experiences, successes, and challenges.
Teach to Reach is a unique platform that enables health workers to learn from each other, contribute to global knowledge, and drive local action on pressing health issues.
At Teach to Reach 10 this June, we will be focusing on the urgent threat of climate change to health, with a special emphasis on how changing environmental conditions are altering the landscape of malaria risk and response.
Read Gavi’s article about our work: Global problems, local solutions: the health workers helping communities brace for climate change
World Malaria Day: Health worker leadership is critical to an integrated view of malaria response by and for local communities
As our recent report “On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report” highlighted, health workers are already witnessing firsthand how climate shifts are affecting disease patterns and burdening health systems.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and changing rainfall patterns are creating ideal conditions for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to thrive, putting communities at greater risk.
Health workers like Yapoulouce Bamba from Guinea have observed this worrying trend: “The degradation of the environment has created more breeding grounds for mosquitoes. During the rainy season, there is a noticeable exponential increase in mosquito populations, which in turn raises the number of malaria cases.”
World Malaria Day: From global governance to local action: how Teach to Reach can contribute to turning the Yaoundé Declaration into local action
At Teach to Reach 10, we’ll be discussing how to turn the commitment of African leaders in the Yaoundé Declaration into locally-led action to accelerate action against malaria.
By bringing together health workers to share local solutions and build resilience, we are supporting the Declaration’s call for investment in research and innovation, cross-border collaboration, and engagement of communities as partners in the malaria fight.
Teach to Reach embodies the Declaration’s vision of supporting those at the forefront of the malaria fight with the knowledge, tools, and solidarity they need to drive transformative impact in their communities.
We need new ways to learn and lead
On this World Malaria Day, we invite all those committed to ending malaria to join us in listening to and learning from frontline health workers.
Their voices, experiences, and leadership are key to driving the local action and global collaboration needed to overcome this persistent threat in a changing climate.
New ways to learn and lead are vital so that we can build a healthier, malaria-free future for all.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#HumanResourcesForHealth #locallyLedAction #malaria #TeachToReach #WorldMalariaDay
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Climate change and health: perspectives from developing countries
Today, the Geneva Learning Foundation’s Charlotte Mbuh delivered a scientific presentation titled “On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report” at the University of Hamburg’s Online Expert Seminar on Climate Change and Health: Perspectives from Developing Countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR-mFCj2xk
Mbuh shared insights from a report based on observations from frontline health workers on the impact of climate change on health in their communities.
The Geneva Learning Foundation, a Swiss non-profit, facilitated a special event “From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change” on 28 July 2023, engaging 4,700 health practitioners from 68 countries who shared 1,260 observations.
“93% of respondents believed that there was a link between climate change and health, and they reported a direct local experience of a wide range of climatic and environmental impacts,” Mbuh stated.
The most commonly reported impacts were on farming and farmland, the distribution of disease-carrying insects, and urban areas becoming hotter.
Health impacts linked to these climatic and environmental changes included increased malnutrition and/or undernutrition, increased waterborne diseases, and changes to the incidence and distribution of vector-borne diseases.
Mbuh emphasized that these impacts were particularly prevalent in smaller communities or mid-sized towns.
Mbuh highlighted the unique role of frontline health workers as trusted advisors to their communities: “Frontline health workers are trusted advisors of the communities that they serve, and they have unique insights to local realities and are strategically positioned to bring about change,” she said.
The Geneva Learning Foundation aims to leverage its digitally-enabled peer learning network of health workers to drive change across different levels of the health system and geographical boundaries.
Mbuh concluded : “These experiences demonstrate the importance of community engagement, sustainable practices, and support from relevant stakeholders in addressing the climate health nexus and building resilience in the face of a changing climate.”
The presentation underscored the urgent need to invest in frontline health workers at the local level to build resilience against the impacts of climate change on health, particularly in vulnerable communities in developing countries.
The event was organized by the International Expert Centre of Climate Change and Health (IECCCH) at the Research and Transfer Centre Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, in collaboration with the European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), the UK Consortium on Sustainability Research (UK-CSR), and the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP).
Photo: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#CharlotteMbuh #climateChange #developingCountries #ExpertCentreOfClimateChangeAndHealth #globalHealth #HamburgUniversityOfAppliedSciences #health
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Climate change and health: perspectives from developing countries
Today, the Geneva Learning Foundation’s Charlotte Mbuh delivered a scientific presentation titled “On the frontline of climate change and health: A health worker eyewitness report” at the University of Hamburg’s Online Expert Seminar on Climate Change and Health: Perspectives from Developing Countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR-mFCj2xk
Mbuh shared insights from a report based on observations from frontline health workers on the impact of climate change on health in their communities.
The Geneva Learning Foundation, a Swiss non-profit, facilitated a special event “From community to planet: Health professionals on the frontlines of climate change” on 28 July 2023, engaging 4,700 health practitioners from 68 countries who shared 1,260 observations.
“93% of respondents believed that there was a link between climate change and health, and they reported a direct local experience of a wide range of climatic and environmental impacts,” Mbuh stated.
The most commonly reported impacts were on farming and farmland, the distribution of disease-carrying insects, and urban areas becoming hotter.
Health impacts linked to these climatic and environmental changes included increased malnutrition and/or undernutrition, increased waterborne diseases, and changes to the incidence and distribution of vector-borne diseases.
Mbuh emphasized that these impacts were particularly prevalent in smaller communities or mid-sized towns.
Mbuh highlighted the unique role of frontline health workers as trusted advisors to their communities: “Frontline health workers are trusted advisors of the communities that they serve, and they have unique insights to local realities and are strategically positioned to bring about change,” she said.
The Geneva Learning Foundation aims to leverage its digitally-enabled peer learning network of health workers to drive change across different levels of the health system and geographical boundaries.
Mbuh concluded : “These experiences demonstrate the importance of community engagement, sustainable practices, and support from relevant stakeholders in addressing the climate health nexus and building resilience in the face of a changing climate.”
The presentation underscored the urgent need to invest in frontline health workers at the local level to build resilience against the impacts of climate change on health, particularly in vulnerable communities in developing countries.
The event was organized by the International Expert Centre of Climate Change and Health (IECCCH) at the Research and Transfer Centre Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, in collaboration with the European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), the UK Consortium on Sustainability Research (UK-CSR), and the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP).
Photo: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#CharlotteMbuh #climateChange #developingCountries #ExpertCentreOfClimateChangeAndHealth #globalHealth #HamburgUniversityOfAppliedSciences #health
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Mental health and psychosocial support in Ukraine: insights from an interdisciplinary review
A new interdisciplinary review from the ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam provides an in-depth analysis of the mental health impacts, cultural and historical factors shaping coping and help-seeking, the evolving humanitarian response, and recommendations for strengthening mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in Ukraine.
The report is an interdisciplinary literature review supplemented by key informant interviews. It synthesizes academic publications, gray literature, media reports and policy documents in English, Ukrainian and Russian. The review team included Ukrainian practitioners and regional experts to identify additional Ukrainian-language sources.
The review found that the war has led to high levels of acute psychological distress, increased risk of the development of future mental health problems, exacerbation of chronic mental health conditions, psychosocial problems, and an increase in substance use. Exposure to war-related trauma and violence, coupled with the loss of social support systems, poses lifelong risks for a range of mental health issues. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are particularly vulnerable, with previous research showing that “32% of IDPs in Ukraine experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 22% had depression.”
Children’s mental health is a critical concern, with “three out of four parents report[ing] signs of psychological trauma in their children” such as “impaired memory, inattention, and learning difficulties.” Over 1.2 million children are internally displaced, with approximately 91,000 separated from family care. These are “the most vulnerable children […] living outside their families, residential institutions for children without parental care or boarding schools, unaccompanied and separated children, and children with disabilities.” Displacement disrupts education, social networks and routines. Adolescents struggle most to adapt and connect with new peers. Older children are taking on caregiver roles for younger siblings. The review identifies a lack of policies and programs specifically targeting child and adolescent mental health as a key gap.
Ukraine’s complex history has shaped current attitudes and practices around mental health. The review notes that “Ukraine’s historical memory is fragmented, with evaluations of events varying significantly among different population groups,” compounded by “Russia’s historic and contemporary efforts to rewrite Ukrainian history.” Soviet-era legacies of stigma, institutionalization, and the misuse of psychiatry have bred mistrust of formal mental health services, according to the review. Instead, “help seeking behaviour tends to be directed toward spiritual leaders (clergy) and practices.” Religious beliefs and leaders play an important role in mental health coping and support.
High levels of societal stigma toward mental illness persist, rooted in cultural norms that view psychological distress as a personal weakness or moral failing. Many Ukrainians hide their struggles and avoid seeking professional help due to fears of being perceived as ‘weak,’ receiving a diagnosis that could jeopardize employment, or being involuntarily hospitalized. “Ukrainians still perceive psychiatrists as being highly likely to disclose information about mental health and psychosocial disorders with employers, and therefore, even a single visit to a psychiatric hospital may destroy the future […] There is a particular tendency to hide suicidal thoughts due to high levels of fear of involuntary hospitalisation”, says the report.
Since 2014, conflict-affected areas in Eastern Ukraine have seen an influx of MHPSS services through humanitarian efforts, while recent national reforms have aimed to decentralize and deinstitutionalize mental healthcare. However, the current crisis has disrupted these reform efforts while dramatically increasing MHPSS needs. This presents both challenges and opportunities to “build on available resources” and integrate “successes of the emergency response into building more sustainable mental health care systems.”
The review highlights the stark regional disparities in MHPSS needs and capacities due to variations in conflict exposure, displacement patterns, infrastructure damage, and pre-existing resources. Areas affected by armed conflict face acute challenges, including widespread mine contamination, community distrust, and decimated health services. Meanwhile, safer areas in Western Ukraine are straining to meet the needs of large displaced populations. However, they also have more MHPSS responders and opportunities for longer-term interventions.
To address these complex challenges, the authors stress the importance of cross-sectoral coordination, building on local capacities and cultural resources, and strengthening partnerships between government, civil society, and faith-based organizations. Rigorous research on MHPSS interventions in conflict-affected Ukraine can inform evidence-based responses in the country and globally.
The review provides a roadmap for strengthening Ukraine’s MHPSS response through a focus on sustainable, locally-grounded, and trauma-informed approaches. While the needs are vast, there are also opportunities to transform mental healthcare and build resilience.
Reference
Iryna Frankova, Megan Leigh Bahmad, Ganna Goloktionova, Orest Suvalo, Kateryna Khyzhniak, 2024. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Ukraine: Coping, Help-seeking and Health Systems Strengthening in Times of War. ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
#armedConflict #coping #mentalHealth #mhpss #psychosocialSupport #ukraine #war
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Mental health and psychosocial support in Ukraine: insights from an interdisciplinary review
A new interdisciplinary review from the ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam provides an in-depth analysis of the mental health impacts, cultural and historical factors shaping coping and help-seeking, the evolving humanitarian response, and recommendations for strengthening mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in Ukraine.
The report is an interdisciplinary literature review supplemented by key informant interviews. It synthesizes academic publications, gray literature, media reports and policy documents in English, Ukrainian and Russian. The review team included Ukrainian practitioners and regional experts to identify additional Ukrainian-language sources.
The review found that the war has led to high levels of acute psychological distress, increased risk of the development of future mental health problems, exacerbation of chronic mental health conditions, psychosocial problems, and an increase in substance use. Exposure to war-related trauma and violence, coupled with the loss of social support systems, poses lifelong risks for a range of mental health issues. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are particularly vulnerable, with previous research showing that “32% of IDPs in Ukraine experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 22% had depression.”
Children’s mental health is a critical concern, with “three out of four parents report[ing] signs of psychological trauma in their children” such as “impaired memory, inattention, and learning difficulties.” Over 1.2 million children are internally displaced, with approximately 91,000 separated from family care. These are “the most vulnerable children […] living outside their families, residential institutions for children without parental care or boarding schools, unaccompanied and separated children, and children with disabilities.” Displacement disrupts education, social networks and routines. Adolescents struggle most to adapt and connect with new peers. Older children are taking on caregiver roles for younger siblings. The review identifies a lack of policies and programs specifically targeting child and adolescent mental health as a key gap.
Ukraine’s complex history has shaped current attitudes and practices around mental health. The review notes that “Ukraine’s historical memory is fragmented, with evaluations of events varying significantly among different population groups,” compounded by “Russia’s historic and contemporary efforts to rewrite Ukrainian history.” Soviet-era legacies of stigma, institutionalization, and the misuse of psychiatry have bred mistrust of formal mental health services, according to the review. Instead, “help seeking behaviour tends to be directed toward spiritual leaders (clergy) and practices.” Religious beliefs and leaders play an important role in mental health coping and support.
High levels of societal stigma toward mental illness persist, rooted in cultural norms that view psychological distress as a personal weakness or moral failing. Many Ukrainians hide their struggles and avoid seeking professional help due to fears of being perceived as ‘weak,’ receiving a diagnosis that could jeopardize employment, or being involuntarily hospitalized. “Ukrainians still perceive psychiatrists as being highly likely to disclose information about mental health and psychosocial disorders with employers, and therefore, even a single visit to a psychiatric hospital may destroy the future […] There is a particular tendency to hide suicidal thoughts due to high levels of fear of involuntary hospitalisation”, says the report.
Since 2014, conflict-affected areas in Eastern Ukraine have seen an influx of MHPSS services through humanitarian efforts, while recent national reforms have aimed to decentralize and deinstitutionalize mental healthcare. However, the current crisis has disrupted these reform efforts while dramatically increasing MHPSS needs. This presents both challenges and opportunities to “build on available resources” and integrate “successes of the emergency response into building more sustainable mental health care systems.”
The review highlights the stark regional disparities in MHPSS needs and capacities due to variations in conflict exposure, displacement patterns, infrastructure damage, and pre-existing resources. Areas affected by armed conflict face acute challenges, including widespread mine contamination, community distrust, and decimated health services. Meanwhile, safer areas in Western Ukraine are straining to meet the needs of large displaced populations. However, they also have more MHPSS responders and opportunities for longer-term interventions.
To address these complex challenges, the authors stress the importance of cross-sectoral coordination, building on local capacities and cultural resources, and strengthening partnerships between government, civil society, and faith-based organizations. Rigorous research on MHPSS interventions in conflict-affected Ukraine can inform evidence-based responses in the country and globally.
The review provides a roadmap for strengthening Ukraine’s MHPSS response through a focus on sustainable, locally-grounded, and trauma-informed approaches. While the needs are vast, there are also opportunities to transform mental healthcare and build resilience.
Reference
Iryna Frankova, Megan Leigh Bahmad, Ganna Goloktionova, Orest Suvalo, Kateryna Khyzhniak, 2024. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Ukraine: Coping, Help-seeking and Health Systems Strengthening in Times of War. ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
#armedConflict #coping #mentalHealth #mhpss #psychosocialSupport #ukraine #war
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Calculating the relative effectiveness of expert coaching, peer learning, and cascade training
A formula for calculating learning efficacy, (E), considering the importance of each criterion and the specific ratings for peer learning, is:
This abstract formula provides a way to quantify learning efficacy, considering various educational criteria and their relative importance (weights) for effective learning.
Variable DefinitionDescription SScalabilityAbility to accommodate a large number of learners IInformation fidelityQuality and reliability of information CCost effectivenessFinancial efficiency of the learning method FFeedback qualityQuality of feedback received UUniformityConsistency of learning experience Summary of five variables that contribute to learning efficacyWeights for each variables are derived from empirical data and expert consensus.
All values are on a scale of 0-4, with a “4” representing the highest level.
ScalabilityInformation fidelityCost-benefitFeedback qualityUniformity4.003.004.003.001.00Assigned weightsHere is a summary table including all values for each criterion, learning efficacy calculated with weights, and Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) for peer learning, cascade training, and expert coaching.
The Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) can be calculated by multiplying the efficacy (E) of a learning method by the number of learners (N).
This table provides a detailed comparison of the values for each criterion across the different learning methods, the calculated learning efficacy values considering the specified weights, and the Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) for each method.
Type of learningScalabilityInformation fidelityCost effectivenessFeedback qualityUniformityLearning efficacy# of learnersEfficacy-Scale ScorePeer learning4.002.504.002.501.003.2010003200Cascade training2.001.002.000.500.501.40500700Expert coaching0.504.001.004.003.002.2060132Of course, there are many nuances in individual programmes that could affect the real-world effectiveness of this simple model. The model, grounded in empirical data and simplified to highlight core determinants of learning efficacy, leverages statistical weighting to prioritize key educational factors, acknowledging its abstraction from the multifaceted nature of educational effectiveness and assumptions may not capture all nuances of individual learning scenarios.
Peer learning
The calculated learning efficacy for peer learning, , is 3.20. This value reflects the weighted assessment of peer learning’s strengths and characteristics according to the provided criteria and their importance.
By virtue of scalability, ESS for peer learning is 24 times higher than expert coaching.
Cascade training
For Cascade Training, the calculated learning efficacy, , is approximately 1.40. This reflects the weighted assessment based on the provided criteria and their importance, indicating lower efficacy compared to peer learning.
Cascade training has a higher ESS than expert coaching, due to its ability to achieve scale.
Learn more: Why does cascade training fail?
Expert coaching
For Expert Coaching, the calculated learning efficacy, , is approximately 2.20. This value indicates higher efficacy than cascade training but lower than peer learning.
However, the ESS is the lowest of the three methods, primarily due to its inability to scale. Read this article for a scalability comparison between expert coaching and peer learning.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#cascadeTraining #expertCoaching #fellowship #mathematicalModeling #peerLearning
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Calculating the relative effectiveness of expert coaching, peer learning, and cascade training
A formula for calculating learning efficacy, (E), considering the importance of each criterion and the specific ratings for peer learning, is:
This abstract formula provides a way to quantify learning efficacy, considering various educational criteria and their relative importance (weights) for effective learning.
Variable DefinitionDescription SScalabilityAbility to accommodate a large number of learners IInformation fidelityQuality and reliability of information CCost effectivenessFinancial efficiency of the learning method FFeedback qualityQuality of feedback received UUniformityConsistency of learning experience Summary of five variables that contribute to learning efficacyWeights for each variables are derived from empirical data and expert consensus.
All values are on a scale of 0-4, with a “4” representing the highest level.
ScalabilityInformation fidelityCost-benefitFeedback qualityUniformity4.003.004.003.001.00Assigned weightsHere is a summary table including all values for each criterion, learning efficacy calculated with weights, and Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) for peer learning, cascade training, and expert coaching.
The Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) can be calculated by multiplying the efficacy (E) of a learning method by the number of learners (N).
This table provides a detailed comparison of the values for each criterion across the different learning methods, the calculated learning efficacy values considering the specified weights, and the Efficacy-Scale Score (ESS) for each method.
Type of learningScalabilityInformation fidelityCost effectivenessFeedback qualityUniformityLearning efficacy# of learnersEfficacy-Scale ScorePeer learning4.002.504.002.501.003.2010003200Cascade training2.001.002.000.500.501.40500700Expert coaching0.504.001.004.003.002.2060132Of course, there are many nuances in individual programmes that could affect the real-world effectiveness of this simple model. The model, grounded in empirical data and simplified to highlight core determinants of learning efficacy, leverages statistical weighting to prioritize key educational factors, acknowledging its abstraction from the multifaceted nature of educational effectiveness and assumptions may not capture all nuances of individual learning scenarios.
Peer learning
The calculated learning efficacy for peer learning, , is 3.20. This value reflects the weighted assessment of peer learning’s strengths and characteristics according to the provided criteria and their importance.
By virtue of scalability, ESS for peer learning is 24 times higher than expert coaching.
Cascade training
For Cascade Training, the calculated learning efficacy, , is approximately 1.40. This reflects the weighted assessment based on the provided criteria and their importance, indicating lower efficacy compared to peer learning.
Cascade training has a higher ESS than expert coaching, due to its ability to achieve scale.
Learn more: Why does cascade training fail?
Expert coaching
For Expert Coaching, the calculated learning efficacy, , is approximately 2.20. This value indicates higher efficacy than cascade training but lower than peer learning.
However, the ESS is the lowest of the three methods, primarily due to its inability to scale. Read this article for a scalability comparison between expert coaching and peer learning.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
Share this:
#cascadeTraining #expertCoaching #fellowship #mathematicalModeling #peerLearning
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Why does cascade training fail?
Cascade training remains widely used in global health.
Cascade training can look great on paper: an expert trains a small group who, in turn, train others, thereby theoretically scaling the knowledge across an organization.
It attempts to combine the advantages of expert coaching and peer learning by passing knowledge down a hierarchy.
However, despite its promise and persistent use, cascade training is plagued by several factors that often lead to its failure.
This is well-documented in the field of learning, but largely unknown (or ignored) in global health.
What are the mechanics of this known inefficacy?
Here are four factors that contribute to the failure of cascade training
1. Information loss
Consider a model where an expert holds a knowledge set K. In each subsequent layer of the cascade, α percentage of the knowledge is lost:
- Where is the knowledge at the nth level of the cascade. As n grows, exponentially decreases, leading to severe information loss.
- Each layer in the cascade introduces a potential for misunderstanding the original information, leading to the training equivalent of the ‘telephone game’.
2. Lack of feedback
In a cascade model, only the first layer receives feedback from an actual expert.
- Subsequent layers have to rely on their immediate ‘trainers,’ who might not have the expertise to correct nuanced mistakes.
- The hierarchical relationship between trainer and trainee is different from peer learning, in which it is assumed that everyone has something to learn from others, and expertise is produced through collaborative learning.
3. Skill variation
- Not everyone is equipped to teach others.
- The people who receive the training first are not necessarily the best at conveying it to the next layer, leading to unequal training quality.
4. Dilution of responsibility
- As the cascade flows down, the sense of responsibility for the quality and fidelity of the training dilutes.
- The absence of feedback to drive a quality development process exacerbates this.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
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Why does cascade training fail?
Cascade training remains widely used in global health.
Cascade training can look great on paper: an expert trains a small group who, in turn, train others, thereby theoretically scaling the knowledge across an organization.
It attempts to combine the advantages of expert coaching and peer learning by passing knowledge down a hierarchy.
However, despite its promise and persistent use, cascade training is plagued by several factors that often lead to its failure.
This is well-documented in the field of learning, but largely unknown (or ignored) in global health.
What are the mechanics of this known inefficacy?
Here are four factors that contribute to the failure of cascade training
1. Information loss
Consider a model where an expert holds a knowledge set K. In each subsequent layer of the cascade, α percentage of the knowledge is lost:
- Where is the knowledge at the nth level of the cascade. As n grows, exponentially decreases, leading to severe information loss.
- Each layer in the cascade introduces a potential for misunderstanding the original information, leading to the training equivalent of the ‘telephone game’.
2. Lack of feedback
In a cascade model, only the first layer receives feedback from an actual expert.
- Subsequent layers have to rely on their immediate ‘trainers,’ who might not have the expertise to correct nuanced mistakes.
- The hierarchical relationship between trainer and trainee is different from peer learning, in which it is assumed that everyone has something to learn from others, and expertise is produced through collaborative learning.
3. Skill variation
- Not everyone is equipped to teach others.
- The people who receive the training first are not necessarily the best at conveying it to the next layer, leading to unequal training quality.
4. Dilution of responsibility
- As the cascade flows down, the sense of responsibility for the quality and fidelity of the training dilutes.
- The absence of feedback to drive a quality development process exacerbates this.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
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The imperative for climate action to protect health and the role of education
“The Imperative for Climate Action to Protect Health” is an article that examines the current and projected health impacts of climate change, as well as the potential health benefits of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The authors state that “climate change is causing injuries, illnesses, and deaths, with the risks projected to increase substantially with additional climate change.”
Specifically, the article notes that approximately “250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050 could be due to climate change–related increases in heat exposure in elderly people, as well as increases in diarrheal disease, malaria, dengue, coastal flooding, and childhood stunting.” The impacts will fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, and climate change “could force more than 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.”
The article discusses major exposure pathways that link climate hazards to health outcomes like “heat-related illness and death, illnesses caused by poor air quality, undernutrition from reduced food quality and security, and selected vectorborne diseases.” It also notes that “the effects of climate change on mental health are increasingly recognized.”
Importantly, the authors argue that “opportunities exist to capitalize on environmental data to develop early warning and response systems” to help adaptation efforts. Furthermore, “investments in and policies to promote proactive and effective adaptation and reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions (mitigation) would decrease the magnitude and pattern of health risks.”
The article highlights that “transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transportation, and cities” aimed at “limiting global warming to 1.5°C” would bring substantial public health benefits. For example, “strong climate policies consistent with the 2°C Paris Agreement target could prevent approximately 175,000 premature deaths” in the US by 2030. More broadly, the authors state that “policies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the energy sector, housing, transportation; and agriculture and food systems can result in near-term ancillary benefits to human health.”
The review thus underscores that “protecting [public] health demands decisive actions from health professionals and governments” in tackling climate change through adaptation and ambitious mitigation policies that yield health “co-benefits.”
What is the role of education?
The review article presents clear evidence that climate change is already severely harming public health, with escalating threats projected, particularly for vulnerable communities. It rightly argues that responding effectively requires urgent adaptation and emissions reductions prioritizing those most impacted.
However, conventional top-down approaches to climate and health in global health are unlikely to achieve the rapid, scalable results needed. Such traditional modalities tend to be ponderously slow, generate knowledge not readily actionable, and fail to reach those on the frontlines in marginalized locales.
Building a new scientific field around climate and health may take years using conventional approaches.
What we would wish for instead is a decentralized, grassroots peer learning system that can directly empower and assist under-resourced local health workers confronting growing climate-health crises.
Specifically, a digital network interconnecting one million such frontline personnel to share granular insights on how climate change is damaging community health in their areas.
This system would facilitate collaborative design of hyperlocal adaptation initiatives tailored to each locale’s distinct climate-health challenges.
It would channel localized knowledge to shape responsive national policies rooted in lived realities on the ground.
Digital tools would amplify voices of those observing firsthand impacts too often excluded.
And participatory methods would synthesize nuanced community observations lacking in conventional statistics.
This locally-attuned, equity-oriented learning infrastructure could unlock community leadership to catalyze climate-health solutions where needs are greatest.
It represents the kind of decentralized, rapidly scalable approach essential to address the review’s calls for urgent action assisting vulnerable groups most harmed by climate change.
Reference
Haines, A., Ebi, K., 2019. The Imperative for Climate Action to Protect Health. N Engl J Med 380, 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1807873
Illustration: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
-
The imperative for climate action to protect health and the role of education
“The Imperative for Climate Action to Protect Health” is an article that examines the current and projected health impacts of climate change, as well as the potential health benefits of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The authors state that “climate change is causing injuries, illnesses, and deaths, with the risks projected to increase substantially with additional climate change.”
Specifically, the article notes that approximately “250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050 could be due to climate change–related increases in heat exposure in elderly people, as well as increases in diarrheal disease, malaria, dengue, coastal flooding, and childhood stunting.” The impacts will fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, and climate change “could force more than 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.”
The article discusses major exposure pathways that link climate hazards to health outcomes like “heat-related illness and death, illnesses caused by poor air quality, undernutrition from reduced food quality and security, and selected vectorborne diseases.” It also notes that “the effects of climate change on mental health are increasingly recognized.”
Importantly, the authors argue that “opportunities exist to capitalize on environmental data to develop early warning and response systems” to help adaptation efforts. Furthermore, “investments in and policies to promote proactive and effective adaptation and reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions (mitigation) would decrease the magnitude and pattern of health risks.”
The article highlights that “transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transportation, and cities” aimed at “limiting global warming to 1.5°C” would bring substantial public health benefits. For example, “strong climate policies consistent with the 2°C Paris Agreement target could prevent approximately 175,000 premature deaths” in the US by 2030. More broadly, the authors state that “policies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the energy sector, housing, transportation; and agriculture and food systems can result in near-term ancillary benefits to human health.”
The review thus underscores that “protecting [public] health demands decisive actions from health professionals and governments” in tackling climate change through adaptation and ambitious mitigation policies that yield health “co-benefits.”
What is the role of education?
The review article presents clear evidence that climate change is already severely harming public health, with escalating threats projected, particularly for vulnerable communities. It rightly argues that responding effectively requires urgent adaptation and emissions reductions prioritizing those most impacted.
However, conventional top-down approaches to climate and health in global health are unlikely to achieve the rapid, scalable results needed. Such traditional modalities tend to be ponderously slow, generate knowledge not readily actionable, and fail to reach those on the frontlines in marginalized locales.
Building a new scientific field around climate and health may take years using conventional approaches.
What we would wish for instead is a decentralized, grassroots peer learning system that can directly empower and assist under-resourced local health workers confronting growing climate-health crises.
Specifically, a digital network interconnecting one million such frontline personnel to share granular insights on how climate change is damaging community health in their areas.
This system would facilitate collaborative design of hyperlocal adaptation initiatives tailored to each locale’s distinct climate-health challenges.
It would channel localized knowledge to shape responsive national policies rooted in lived realities on the ground.
Digital tools would amplify voices of those observing firsthand impacts too often excluded.
And participatory methods would synthesize nuanced community observations lacking in conventional statistics.
This locally-attuned, equity-oriented learning infrastructure could unlock community leadership to catalyze climate-health solutions where needs are greatest.
It represents the kind of decentralized, rapidly scalable approach essential to address the review’s calls for urgent action assisting vulnerable groups most harmed by climate change.
Reference
Haines, A., Ebi, K., 2019. The Imperative for Climate Action to Protect Health. N Engl J Med 380, 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1807873
Illustration: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024
-
Climate change is a threat to the health of the communities we serve: health workers speak out at COP28
The Geneva Learning Foundation’s Charlotte Mbuh spoke today at the COP28 Health Pavilion in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Watch the speech at COP28…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMTMaMBOq-E
Good afternoon. I am Charlotte Mbuh. I have worked for the health of children and families in Cameroon for over 15 years.
I am one of more than 5,500 health workers from 68 countries who have connected to share our observations of how climate is affecting the health of those we serve.
“Going back home to the community where I grew up as a child, I was shocked to see that most of the rivers we used to swim and fish in have all dried up, and those that are still there have become very shallow so that you can easily walk through a river you required a boat to cross in years past.”
These are the words of Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi, a health worker from Nigeria.
Dr Kumbha Gopi, a health worker from India said: “The use of motor vehicles has led to an increase in air pollution and we see respiratory problems and skin diseases”.
Climate change is hurting the health of those we serve. And it is getting worse.
Few here would deny that health workers are an essential voice to listen to in order to understand climate impacts on health.
Yet, a man named Jacob on social media snapped: “Since when are health workers the authority on air pollution?”
Here are the words of Bie Lilian Mbando, a health worker from my country: “Where I live in Buea, the flood from Mount Cameroon took away all belongings of people in my neighborhood and killed a secondary school student who was playing football with his friends.”
Climate change is killing communities.
Cecilia Nabwirwa, a nurse in Nairobi, Kenya: “I remember my grand-son getting sick after eating vegetables grown along areas flooded by sewage. Since then I resolved to growing my own vegetables to ensure healthy eating.”
And yet, another man on social media, Robert, found this “ridiculous. As if my friend who sells fish at his fish stall comes as an expert on water quality.”
I wondered: why such brutal responses?
Well, unlike scientists or global agencies, we cannot be dismissed as “experts from on-high”.
What we know, we know because we are here every day.
We are part of the community.
And we know that climate change is a threat to the health of the communities we serve.
We are already having to manage the impacts of climate change on health.
We are doing the best that we can.
But we need your support.
The global community is investing in building a new scientific field around climate and health.
Massive investments are also being made in policy.
Are we making a commensurate investment in people and communities?
That should mean investing in health workers.
What will happen if this investment is neglected?
What if big global donors say: “it’s important, but it’s not part of our strategy?”
Well, in 5, 10, or 15 years, we will certainly have much improved science and, hopefully, policy.
Yet, some communities might reject better science and policy.
Will the global community then wonder: “Why don’t they know what’s good for them?”
I am an immunization worker. For over 15 years, I have worked for my country’s ministry of health.
Like my colleagues from all over the world, I know more than a little about what it takes to establish and maintain trust.
Trust in vaccination, trust in public health.
Trust that by standing together in the face of critical threats to our societies, we all stand to do better.
Local communities in the poorest countries are already bearing the brunt of climate change effects on health.
Local solutions are needed.
Health workers are trusted advisors to the communities we serve.
With every challenge, there is an opportunity.
On 28 July 2023, 4,700 health workers began learning from each other through the Geneva Learning Foundation’s platform, community, and network.
Thousands more are connecting with each other, because they choose to.
And because they want to take action.
It is our duty to support them.
In March 2024, we will hold the tenth Teach to Reach conference.
The last edition reached over 17,000 health workers from more than 80 countries.
This time, our focus will be on climate and health.
We invite global partners to join, to listen and to learn.
We invite you to consider how you, your organization, your government might support action by health workers on the frontline.
Because we will rise.
As health workers, with or without your support, we will continue to stand up with courage, compassion and commitment, working to lift up our communities.
Our perseverance calls us all to press forward towards climate justice and health equity.
I wish to challenge us, as a global community, to rise together, so that the voices of those on the frontline of climate change will be at the next Conference of Parties.
By standing together, we all stand to do better.
Thank you.
#CharlotteMbuh #climate #climateCrisis #COP28 #Dubai #health #healthWorkforce #HRH
-
Climate change is a threat to the health of the communities we serve: health workers speak out at COP28
The Geneva Learning Foundation’s Charlotte Mbuh spoke today at the COP28 Health Pavilion in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Watch the speech at COP28…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMTMaMBOq-E
Good afternoon. I am Charlotte Mbuh. I have worked for the health of children and families in Cameroon for over 15 years.
I am one of more than 5,500 health workers from 68 countries who have connected to share our observations of how climate is affecting the health of those we serve.
“Going back home to the community where I grew up as a child, I was shocked to see that most of the rivers we used to swim and fish in have all dried up, and those that are still there have become very shallow so that you can easily walk through a river you required a boat to cross in years past.”
These are the words of Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi, a health worker from Nigeria.
Dr Kumbha Gopi, a health worker from India said: “The use of motor vehicles has led to an increase in air pollution and we see respiratory problems and skin diseases”.
Climate change is hurting the health of those we serve. And it is getting worse.
Few here would deny that health workers are an essential voice to listen to in order to understand climate impacts on health.
Yet, a man named Jacob on social media snapped: “Since when are health workers the authority on air pollution?”
Here are the words of Bie Lilian Mbando, a health worker from my country: “Where I live in Buea, the flood from Mount Cameroon took away all belongings of people in my neighborhood and killed a secondary school student who was playing football with his friends.”
Climate change is killing communities.
Cecilia Nabwirwa, a nurse in Nairobi, Kenya: “I remember my grand-son getting sick after eating vegetables grown along areas flooded by sewage. Since then I resolved to growing my own vegetables to ensure healthy eating.”
And yet, another man on social media, Robert, found this “ridiculous. As if my friend who sells fish at his fish stall comes as an expert on water quality.”
I wondered: why such brutal responses?
Well, unlike scientists or global agencies, we cannot be dismissed as “experts from on-high”.
What we know, we know because we are here every day.
We are part of the community.
And we know that climate change is a threat to the health of the communities we serve.
We are already having to manage the impacts of climate change on health.
We are doing the best that we can.
But we need your support.
The global community is investing in building a new scientific field around climate and health.
Massive investments are also being made in policy.
Are we making a commensurate investment in people and communities?
That should mean investing in health workers.
What will happen if this investment is neglected?
What if big global donors say: “it’s important, but it’s not part of our strategy?”
Well, in 5, 10, or 15 years, we will certainly have much improved science and, hopefully, policy.
Yet, some communities might reject better science and policy.
Will the global community then wonder: “Why don’t they know what’s good for them?”
I am an immunization worker. For over 15 years, I have worked for my country’s ministry of health.
Like my colleagues from all over the world, I know more than a little about what it takes to establish and maintain trust.
Trust in vaccination, trust in public health.
Trust that by standing together in the face of critical threats to our societies, we all stand to do better.
Local communities in the poorest countries are already bearing the brunt of climate change effects on health.
Local solutions are needed.
Health workers are trusted advisors to the communities we serve.
With every challenge, there is an opportunity.
On 28 July 2023, 4,700 health workers began learning from each other through the Geneva Learning Foundation’s platform, community, and network.
Thousands more are connecting with each other, because they choose to.
And because they want to take action.
It is our duty to support them.
In March 2024, we will hold the tenth Teach to Reach conference.
The last edition reached over 17,000 health workers from more than 80 countries.
This time, our focus will be on climate and health.
We invite global partners to join, to listen and to learn.
We invite you to consider how you, your organization, your government might support action by health workers on the frontline.
Because we will rise.
As health workers, with or without your support, we will continue to stand up with courage, compassion and commitment, working to lift up our communities.
Our perseverance calls us all to press forward towards climate justice and health equity.
I wish to challenge us, as a global community, to rise together, so that the voices of those on the frontline of climate change will be at the next Conference of Parties.
By standing together, we all stand to do better.
Thank you.
#CharlotteMbuh #climate #climateCrisis #COP28 #Dubai #health #healthWorkforce #HRH
-
Learning-based complex work: how to reframe learning and development
The following is excerpted from Watkins, K.E. and Marsick, V.J., 2023. Chapter 4. Learning informally at work: Reframing learning and development. In Rethinking Workplace Learning and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing.
This chapter’s final example illustrates the way in which organically arising IIL (informal and incidental learning) is paired with opportunities to build knowledge through a combination of structured education and informal learning by peers working in frequently complex circumstances.
Reda Sadki, president of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), rethought learning and development (L&D) for immunization workers in many roles in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Adapting to technology available to participants from the countries that joined this effort, Sadki designed a mix of experiences that broke out of the limits of “training” as it was often designed by conventional learning and development practitioners.
He addressed, the inability to scale up to reach large audiences; difficulty to transfer what is learned; inability to accommodate different learners’ starting places; the need to teach learners to solve complex problems; and the inability to develop sufficient expertise in a timely way. (Marsick et al., 2021, p. 15)
This led his organization, to invite front-line staff from all levels of immunization systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to create and share new learning in response to the social and behavioral challenges they faced.
Sadki designed learning and development for “in-depth engagement on priority topics,” insights into “the raw, unfiltered perspectives of frontline staff,” and peer dialogue that “gives a voice to front-line workers” (The Geneva Learning Foundation, 2022).
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#complexity #immunization #incidentalLearning #informalLearning #KarenEWatkins #PerformanceManagement #RethinkingWorkplaceLearningAndDevelopment #TheGenevaLearningFoundation #VictoriaJMarsick #workforceDevelopment
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Learning-based complex work: how to reframe learning and development
The following is excerpted from Watkins, K.E. and Marsick, V.J., 2023. Chapter 4. Learning informally at work: Reframing learning and development. In Rethinking Workplace Learning and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing.
This chapter’s final example illustrates the way in which organically arising IIL (informal and incidental learning) is paired with opportunities to build knowledge through a combination of structured education and informal learning by peers working in frequently complex circumstances.
Reda Sadki, president of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), rethought learning and development (L&D) for immunization workers in many roles in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Adapting to technology available to participants from the countries that joined this effort, Sadki designed a mix of experiences that broke out of the limits of “training” as it was often designed by conventional learning and development practitioners.
He addressed, the inability to scale up to reach large audiences; difficulty to transfer what is learned; inability to accommodate different learners’ starting places; the need to teach learners to solve complex problems; and the inability to develop sufficient expertise in a timely way. (Marsick et al., 2021, p. 15)
This led his organization, to invite front-line staff from all levels of immunization systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to create and share new learning in response to the social and behavioral challenges they faced.
Sadki designed learning and development for “in-depth engagement on priority topics,” insights into “the raw, unfiltered perspectives of frontline staff,” and peer dialogue that “gives a voice to front-line workers” (The Geneva Learning Foundation, 2022).
Subscribe to continue reading
Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.
Type your email…
Subscribe
Already a subscriber?Share this:
#complexity #immunization #incidentalLearning #informalLearning #KarenEWatkins #PerformanceManagement #RethinkingWorkplaceLearningAndDevelopment #TheGenevaLearningFoundation #VictoriaJMarsick #workforceDevelopment
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What learning science underpins peer learning for Global Health?
Watch Reda Sadki’s presentation about peer learning for global health at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Symposium on 19 October 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q08dbbzUzzc
Most significant learning that contributes to improved performance takes place outside of formal training.
It occurs through informal and incidental forms of learning between peers.
This is called peer learning or peer-to-peer learning.
Effective use of peer learning requires realizing how much we can learn from each other (peer learning), experiencing the power of defying distance to solve problems together (remote learning), and feeling a growing sense of belonging to a community (social learning), emergent across country borders and health system levels (networked learning).
At the ASTMH annual meeting Symposium organized by Julie Jacobson, two TGLF Alumnae, María Monzón from Argentina and Ruth Allotey from Ghana, will be sharing their analyses and reflections of how they turned peer learning into action, results, and impact.
In his presentation, Reda Sadki, president of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), will explore:
- What do we need to understand about digital learning?
- Networked learning: rethinking learning architecture in the Digital Age
- Social learning: peer learning is about making human connections
- Practical examples of TGLF peer learning systems for WHO, Wellcome, UNICEF, and Bridges to Development that connect learning to change, results, and impact.
- Emergent peer learning systems driven by local practitioner and community needs and priorities.
Join this #TropMed23 Peer Learning symposium on Day 2 of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
#AlanBrooks #AmericanSocietyForTropicalMedicineAndHygiene #ASTMH #CharlotteMbuh #digitalLearning #MaríaFernandaMonzón #networkedLearning #pedagogy #peerLearning #RuthAllotey #socialLearning #TropMed23 -
What learning science underpins peer learning for Global Health?
Watch Reda Sadki’s presentation about peer learning for global health at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Symposium on 19 October 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q08dbbzUzzc
Most significant learning that contributes to improved performance takes place outside of formal training.
It occurs through informal and incidental forms of learning between peers.
This is called peer learning or peer-to-peer learning.
Effective use of peer learning requires realizing how much we can learn from each other (peer learning), experiencing the power of defying distance to solve problems together (remote learning), and feeling a growing sense of belonging to a community (social learning), emergent across country borders and health system levels (networked learning).
At the ASTMH annual meeting Symposium organized by Julie Jacobson, two TGLF Alumnae, María Monzón from Argentina and Ruth Allotey from Ghana, will be sharing their analyses and reflections of how they turned peer learning into action, results, and impact.
In his presentation, Reda Sadki, president of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), will explore:
- What do we need to understand about digital learning?
- Networked learning: rethinking learning architecture in the Digital Age
- Social learning: peer learning is about making human connections
- Practical examples of TGLF peer learning systems for WHO, Wellcome, UNICEF, and Bridges to Development that connect learning to change, results, and impact.
- Emergent peer learning systems driven by local practitioner and community needs and priorities.
Join this #TropMed23 Peer Learning symposium on Day 2 of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).
#AlanBrooks #AmericanSocietyForTropicalMedicineAndHygiene #ASTMH #CharlotteMbuh #digitalLearning #MaríaFernandaMonzón #networkedLearning #pedagogy #peerLearning #RuthAllotey #socialLearning #TropMed23 -
The COVID-19 Peer Hub as an example of Collective Intelligence (CI) in practice
A new article by colleagues at the Cambridge Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) illustrates academic understanding of Collective Intelligence (CI) through the COVID-19 Peer Hub, a peer learning initiative organized by over 6,000 frontline health workers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with support from The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), in response to the initial shock of the pandemic on immunization services that placed 80 million children at risk of missing lifesaving vaccines. Learn more about the COVID-19 Peer Hub…
From the abstract:
Collective Intelligence (CI) is important for groups that seek to address shared problems.
CI in human groups can be mediated by educational technologies.
The current paper presents a framework to support design thinking in relation to CI educational technologies.
Our Collective Intelligence framework is grounded in an organismic-contextualist developmental perspective that orients enquiry to the design of increasingly complex and integrated CI systems that support coordinated group problem solving behaviour.
We focus on pedagogies and infrastructure and we argue that project-based learning provides a sound basis for CI education, allowing for different forms of CI behaviour to be integrated, including swarm behaviour, stigmergy, and collaborative behaviour.
We highlight CI technologies already being used in educational environments while also pointing to opportunities and needs for further creative designs to support the development of CI capabilities across the lifespan.
We argue that Collective Intelligence education grounded in dialogue and the application of CI methods across a range of project-based learning challenges can provide a common bridge for diverse transitions into public and private sector jobs and a shared learning experience that supports cooperative public-private partnerships, which can further reinforce advanced human capabilities in system design.
Article excerpt:
As an example of Collective Intelligence in practice, in 2020–2021, more than 6000 health workers joined The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) COVID-19 Peer Hub.
Participants shared more than 1200 ideas or practices for managing the pandemic in their contexts within 10 days. Relevant peer ideas and practices were then referenced as participants produced individual, context-specific action plans that were then reviewed by peers before finalisation and implementation.
Mapping of action plan citations (C3L 2022) demonstrate patterns of peer learning, between countries, organisations and system levels.
In parallel, TGLF synthesises data generated by peer learners in formats legitimised by the global health knowledge system (e.g. Moore et al. 2022).
The biggest challenge to CI in this context remains one of legitimacy: how can collective intelligence compete with the perceived gold standard of academic publication within this expert-led culture?
We argue that as CI education is further developed and extends across the lifespan from school learning environment to work and organisational environments, CI technologies and practices will be further developed, evaluated, and refined and will gain legitimacy as part of broader societal capabilities in CI that are cultivated and reinforced on an ongoing basis.
References
- Kovanovic, V. et al. (2022) The power of learning networks for global health: The Geneva Learning Foundation COVID-19 Peer Hub Project Evaluation Report. Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning.
- Moore, Katie, Barbara Muzzulini, Tamara Roldán, Juliet Bedford, and Heidi Larson. 2022. Overcoming barriers to vaccine acceptance in the community: Key learning from the experiences of 734 frontline health workers (1.0). The Geneva Learning Foundation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6965355
- Hogan, M.J., Barton, A., Twiner, A., James, C., Ahmed, F., Casebourne, I., Steed, I., Hamilton, P., Shi, S., Zhao, Y., Harney, O.M., Wegerif, R., 2023. Education for collective intelligence. Irish Educational Studies 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2023.2250309
#Cambridge #CollectiveIntelligence #DEFI #DigitalEducationFuturesInitiative #digitalLearning #learningAtScale #pandemicPreparedness #peerLearning
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The COVID-19 Peer Hub as an example of Collective Intelligence (CI) in practice
A new article by colleagues at the Cambridge Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) illustrates academic understanding of Collective Intelligence (CI) through the COVID-19 Peer Hub, a peer learning initiative organized by over 6,000 frontline health workers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with support from The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), in response to the initial shock of the pandemic on immunization services that placed 80 million children at risk of missing lifesaving vaccines. Learn more about the COVID-19 Peer Hub…
From the abstract:
Collective Intelligence (CI) is important for groups that seek to address shared problems.
CI in human groups can be mediated by educational technologies.
The current paper presents a framework to support design thinking in relation to CI educational technologies.
Our Collective Intelligence framework is grounded in an organismic-contextualist developmental perspective that orients enquiry to the design of increasingly complex and integrated CI systems that support coordinated group problem solving behaviour.
We focus on pedagogies and infrastructure and we argue that project-based learning provides a sound basis for CI education, allowing for different forms of CI behaviour to be integrated, including swarm behaviour, stigmergy, and collaborative behaviour.
We highlight CI technologies already being used in educational environments while also pointing to opportunities and needs for further creative designs to support the development of CI capabilities across the lifespan.
We argue that Collective Intelligence education grounded in dialogue and the application of CI methods across a range of project-based learning challenges can provide a common bridge for diverse transitions into public and private sector jobs and a shared learning experience that supports cooperative public-private partnerships, which can further reinforce advanced human capabilities in system design.
Article excerpt:
As an example of Collective Intelligence in practice, in 2020–2021, more than 6000 health workers joined The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) COVID-19 Peer Hub.
Participants shared more than 1200 ideas or practices for managing the pandemic in their contexts within 10 days. Relevant peer ideas and practices were then referenced as participants produced individual, context-specific action plans that were then reviewed by peers before finalisation and implementation.
Mapping of action plan citations (C3L 2022) demonstrate patterns of peer learning, between countries, organisations and system levels.
In parallel, TGLF synthesises data generated by peer learners in formats legitimised by the global health knowledge system (e.g. Moore et al. 2022).
The biggest challenge to CI in this context remains one of legitimacy: how can collective intelligence compete with the perceived gold standard of academic publication within this expert-led culture?
We argue that as CI education is further developed and extends across the lifespan from school learning environment to work and organisational environments, CI technologies and practices will be further developed, evaluated, and refined and will gain legitimacy as part of broader societal capabilities in CI that are cultivated and reinforced on an ongoing basis.
References
- Kovanovic, V. et al. (2022) The power of learning networks for global health: The Geneva Learning Foundation COVID-19 Peer Hub Project Evaluation Report. Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning.
- Moore, Katie, Barbara Muzzulini, Tamara Roldán, Juliet Bedford, and Heidi Larson. 2022. Overcoming barriers to vaccine acceptance in the community: Key learning from the experiences of 734 frontline health workers (1.0). The Geneva Learning Foundation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6965355
- Hogan, M.J., Barton, A., Twiner, A., James, C., Ahmed, F., Casebourne, I., Steed, I., Hamilton, P., Shi, S., Zhao, Y., Harney, O.M., Wegerif, R., 2023. Education for collective intelligence. Irish Educational Studies 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2023.2250309
#Cambridge #CollectiveIntelligence #DEFI #DigitalEducationFuturesInitiative #digitalLearning #learningAtScale #pandemicPreparedness #peerLearning
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What is the difference between a wicked problem and a grand challenge?
The management concepts of wicked problems and grand challenges are closely related but have some key distinctions:
Similarities
Both wicked problems and grand challenges refer to complex, systemic issues that are difficult to solve and have far-reaching societal impacts. They share several characteristics:
- Complexity and interconnectedness with other problems
- No clear or definitive solutions
- Require collaborative efforts from diverse stakeholders
- Often global or multi-regional in scope
- Involve uncertainty and changing requirements
Distinctions
While closely related, there are some nuanced differences:
Scope and framing
- Wicked problems tend to be framed more negatively as intractable issues
- Grand challenges are often framed more positively as ambitious goals to be tackled
Solution approach
- Wicked problems are seen as having no definitive solution, only better or worse approaches
- Grand challenges imply the possibility of significant progress or breakthroughs, even if not fully “solved”
Origin and usage
- Wicked problems originated in social planning literature in the 1960s-70s
- Grand challenges gained prominence more recently, especially in management literature since the 2010s
Relationship
Many scholars view grand challenges as a subset or reframing of wicked problems. Grand challenges can be seen as large-scale wicked problems that have been formulated into more actionable goals. The grand challenges framing aims to mobilize collaborative efforts to make progress on wicked problems, even if they cannot be fully solved.
Both concepts highlight the need for:
- Interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches
- Adaptive and flexible strategies
- Consideration of diverse stakeholder perspectives
- Acceptance of uncertainty and continuous learning
Understanding both wicked problems and grand challenges can help managers and policymakers develop more effective approaches to complex societal issues. The grand challenges framing, in particular, may help motivate action and innovation in addressing wicked problems that might otherwise seem insurmountable.
References
Daar, A.S. et al. (2018) ‘Grand challenges in humanitarian aid’, Nature, 559(7713), pp. 169–173. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05642-8.
Gariel, C. and Bartel-Radic, A. (2024) ‘Tidying Up the Concept of Grand Challenges: A Bibliometric Analysis’, M@n@gement, 27(S1), pp. 58–79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2024.8884.
Rittel, H.W. and Webber, M.M. (1973) ‘Dilemmas in a general theory of planning’, Policy sciences, 4(2), pp. 155–169. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01v4t1c9.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2025
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#criticalThinking #globalHealth #grandChallenges #HorstWJRitten #humanitarianAid #MelvinMWebber #planning #problemSolving #wickedProblems
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What is the difference between a wicked problem and a grand challenge?
The management concepts of wicked problems and grand challenges are closely related but have some key distinctions:
Similarities
Both wicked problems and grand challenges refer to complex, systemic issues that are difficult to solve and have far-reaching societal impacts. They share several characteristics:
- Complexity and interconnectedness with other problems
- No clear or definitive solutions
- Require collaborative efforts from diverse stakeholders
- Often global or multi-regional in scope
- Involve uncertainty and changing requirements
Distinctions
While closely related, there are some nuanced differences:
Scope and framing
- Wicked problems tend to be framed more negatively as intractable issues
- Grand challenges are often framed more positively as ambitious goals to be tackled
Solution approach
- Wicked problems are seen as having no definitive solution, only better or worse approaches
- Grand challenges imply the possibility of significant progress or breakthroughs, even if not fully “solved”
Origin and usage
- Wicked problems originated in social planning literature in the 1960s-70s
- Grand challenges gained prominence more recently, especially in management literature since the 2010s
Relationship
Many scholars view grand challenges as a subset or reframing of wicked problems. Grand challenges can be seen as large-scale wicked problems that have been formulated into more actionable goals. The grand challenges framing aims to mobilize collaborative efforts to make progress on wicked problems, even if they cannot be fully solved.
Both concepts highlight the need for:
- Interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches
- Adaptive and flexible strategies
- Consideration of diverse stakeholder perspectives
- Acceptance of uncertainty and continuous learning
Understanding both wicked problems and grand challenges can help managers and policymakers develop more effective approaches to complex societal issues. The grand challenges framing, in particular, may help motivate action and innovation in addressing wicked problems that might otherwise seem insurmountable.
References
Daar, A.S. et al. (2018) ‘Grand challenges in humanitarian aid’, Nature, 559(7713), pp. 169–173. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05642-8.
Gariel, C. and Bartel-Radic, A. (2024) ‘Tidying Up the Concept of Grand Challenges: A Bibliometric Analysis’, M@n@gement, 27(S1), pp. 58–79. Available at: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2024.8884.
Rittel, H.W. and Webber, M.M. (1973) ‘Dilemmas in a general theory of planning’, Policy sciences, 4(2), pp. 155–169. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01v4t1c9.
Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2025
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#criticalThinking #globalHealth #grandChallenges #HorstWJRitten #humanitarianAid #MelvinMWebber #planning #problemSolving #wickedProblems
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What is a system?
Donella H. Meadows wrote the following simple, eloquent description of what is a system:
“A system isn’t just any old collection of things.
A system must consist of three kinds of things: elements, interconnections, and a function or purpose.
A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something.
The behavior of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of which the system is made.
A system is more than the sum of its parts.
It may exhibit adaptive, dynamic, goal-seeking, self-preserving, and sometimes evolutionary behavior.
It is easier to learn about a system’s elements than about its interconnections.
If information-based relationships are hard to see, functions or purposes are even harder.
A system’s function or purpose is not necessarily spoken, written, or expressed explicitly, except through the operation of the system.
Purposes are deduced from behavior, not from rhetoric or stated goals.
The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system’s behavior.
To ask whether elements, interconnections, or purposes are most important in a system is to ask an unsystemic question.
All are essential.
All interact.
All have their roles.
But the least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system’s behavior.”
Understanding what is a system is the starting point to tackling complex problems.
Meadows, Donella H., 2008.Thinking in systems: A primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.
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#complexity #DonellaHMeadows #learningStrategy #systemsTheory
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Redhead Kingpin And The F.B.I. - Do The Right Thing (1989)
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Redhead Kingpin And The F.B.I. - Do The Right Thing (1989)
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Redhead Kingpin And The F.B.I. - Do The Right Thing (1989)
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Redhead Kingpin and the F.B.I.:
🎵 Do the Right Thinghttps://editlab.bandcamp.com/track/redhead-kingpin-the-f-b-i-do-the-right-thing-revibelab
