HMS/BWH Case Study

 

For her sixth section, Kirstin Woody Scott prepared this activity based off of the HMS/BWH case study on Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and tuberculosis. This activity allowed students to discuss and present the knowledge of the case they had reviewed in lecture and tackle policy realities in global health. Students prepared oral arguments to take on the role of different stakeholders and defend their positions when faced with cuts to global health funding.

The students worked through a HMS/BWH case study on Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and tuberculosis the week prior to section. They were informed via email that they needed to skim their notes from the case and remember the various stakeholders involved.

Students were given a five minute overview of section via powerpoint slides, then the instructor introduced the activity to them. The instructions were displayed on the powerpoint slide for easy reference, and then each small group was given the name of a key stakeholder from the case that their small group would be representing.

After receiving the instructions on powerpoint slides, the instructor divided the students into groups, then distributed different cards, each of which had the name of a different stakeholder from the global health case (e.g. patients, community health workers, NGO, national tuberculosis program( NTB)). The students were charged with discussing among their small group how they would prioritize the interests of their stakeholder knowing that a 50% reduction in funding was coming down the pipeline. In other words - they were charged with having to be creative to maintain components of a valuable service even if funding was reduced, but had to anticipate that other stakeholders in the room might have competing interests or discordant priorities. Each small group had about 6-8 minutes to discuss their priorities. 

After each group presented their priorities via an oral summary, they debated the priorities of their group with other "stakeholders" in the room, and came up with a plan of action to the funding agency. The students had about 10 minutes to "debrief" on the exercise to discuss lessons learned as well as how this exercise may be useful should they ever find themselves in a real life situation that may resemble this type of debate, difficult policy reality (e.g. reduced funding) and how to negotiate with collaborators/fellow stakeholders. 

This activity had a number of goals: 1) solidify the students' knowledge of the case that they had reviewed in lecture, 2) expose them to a policy reality in global health (e.g. funding cuts) and challenge them to creatively overcome this obstacle, 3) learn how to negotiate in a professional but direct manner with other stakeholders whose priorities may differ from their own, and 4) have the students practice their ability to deliver an argument orally, and defend their position in real time.

There is a sample excerpt of Scott's presentation attached.

presentation.pptx70 KB