ReBUILD at HSR 2024 – Friday 22nd November

 

All times are local Japanese Standard Time (GMT+9). Please note that session times may change at short notice – check the HSR 2024 website or app for the latest times and dates.

 

Taking the long view: what can we learn about health system resilience in fragile contexts from Afghanistan (1989-2024)?

Time: 08:00 – 09:30
Location: Room 101(c)
Session ID: G11

Egbert Sondorp of Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam (and ReBUILD’s advisory group) will make this oral presentation as part of the session From Practice to Policy: Advancing Health System Resilience through Governance and Multisectoral Collaboration.

 

Over recent decades, a range of publications has highlighted the relative success of health care reforms initiated in 2003 in Afghanistan. These were based on contracting minimal health care packages to non-state health providers; an approach that is thought to still contribute to the apparent resilience of Afghanistan’s health system today. This case study revisits these conclusions, taking a longer-term perspective and including a wider range of stakeholders. It identifies some possibly undervalued elements in understanding this resilience and concludes that greater attention for longitudinal and context specific understanding of governance in fragile, mixed health systems is warranted.

 

There’s more on this study here.

 

 

Health workforce during a time of crises – panel session

Time: 09:40 – 11:10
Location: Room 107
Session ID: O-328

Fragility, violence, conflict, and other crises present critical development challenges, disrupt fragile health systems, and worsen inequalities by creating barriers to essential healthcare. The role of health workers during this time is critical to building resilient health systems, but evidence on how they cope and the support they need remains scarce. This session aims to bring together the experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of health workers during and post crisis in different contexts and explore the support needed for enhancing their capacity and motivation for emergency preparedness, drawing insights from both panel and audience members’ experiences.

The session aims to:

  • Identify the adaptive capacities and mechanisms and support needed to help health workers respond to different emergencies while continuing to provide quality, and equitable health services for all populations.
  • Build networks of exchange with health workers/and researchers working in different crisis settings on how to better support health workers during and post crisis.
  • Generate evidence on routine and emergency planning from the perspectives of health workers in different crisis settings, for example for health workers availability, capacity and coping strategies/motivation.

This ReBUILD panel session will be chaired by Joanna Raven (LSTM, UK) and features Wesam Mansour (LSTM, UK), Nasher Al-Aghbari (Al-Thawra General Modern Teaching Hospital, Yemen) and Shophika Regmi (HERD International, Nepal), all of ReBUILD. They will be joined by Hamid Ravaghi (Regional Advisor for hospital care and management in WHO-EMRO) and Roshan Pokharel (Secretary, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal).

 

 

Artistic methods to support just health systems: exploring the pros and cons of film

Time: 11:40 – 13:10
Location: Room 101(c)
Session ID: O-466

This panel session will explore how research teams in diverse contexts have harnessed the power of film, both as a mechanism to capture the views and knowledge of health systems stakeholders, and to communicate these to those with the power to affect change. The objectives are to:

  • Share films from contexts where health systems are experiencing challenges and where particular marginalised groups are experiencing the impact of maladaptive coping strategies (Sierra Leone, India, Lebanon and Nepal)
  • Explore how the focus films came into being and the various advocacy messages and structural inequities that prompted the use of this medium
  • Lay out the practicalities of working in film – whether it’s harnessing participatory methodologies or pursuing partnerships with creative professionals – including the ethical and practical skills needed to navigate the work
  • Document the pros and cons of this approach to the furtherance of health systems research

The contributors and co-facilitators are health systems researchers who have used film in their work and who are committed to more just and equitable processes and outcomes. They are: Kate Hawkins (ReBUILD and Pamoja Communications Ltd, UK), Hemanth Chandu (The George Institute, India), Rouham Yamout (ReBUILD and American University of Beirut, Lebanon) and Abriti Arjal (ReBUILD and HERD International, Nepal).

 

You can watch two of the films featured in this session – A Story of Female Community Health Volunteers (Nepal) and Health Workers (Lebanon).

 

 

Unveiling mental health challenges among Myanmar’s youth in the dual crises of political instability and COVID-19, exploring pathways for intervention

Time: 11:40-13:10
Location: Room 102
Session ID: A6

This oral presentation is from Zay Yar Swe of Burnet Institute and part of the session Engaging people with lived experience of mental illness: co-production of programs and policies.

 

Mental health services in Myanmar are under great strain. Cultural, economic and financial stressors are impacting on wellbeing (the poverty rate has soared from 16% to 63% recently), intensifying mental health struggles and with young people particularly affected. Disruptions to public services have led to greater reliance on private health providers.

 

This study explores mental health needs, care-seeking behaviour, and service-delivery preferences of people aged 16-24 in Yangon and Magway, with the aim of informing a new community-based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Intervention Package.

 

There’s more on this study here.

 

Evidence for Action: Understanding determinants and needs of mental health from the perspectives of young people in South Dagon and Magwe, Myanmar

Time: 11:40-13:10
Location: Room 105
Session ID: A13

This oral presentation is from Aye Thida Win of Burnet Institute and will be presented in the session Understanding Social Determinants to Address Health Inequity: Lessons from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

 

The dual crises of COVID-19 and political unrest are likely to have substantially impacted on the mental health of young people in Myanmar. However, there are limited data describing young people’s mental health and few qualitative studies exploring the specific needs of adolescents and young people in the country. This study aims to fill the critical evidence gap concerning the burden of mental health conditions among young people in Myanmar, and provides an in-depth understanding of the determinants and mental health needs of this group to inform effective responses.

 

There’s more on this study here.

 

 

Participatory action research to address gender norms and power dynamics of Female Community Health Volunteers: efforts to support a just health system in Nepal

Time: 14:10-15:40
Location: 101(b)
Session ID: O-466

Part of the session Strengthening Community Health Worker and Social Care Programs.

Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) play a pivotal role in Nepal’s health system. In this oral presentation, Abriti Arjal of HERD International explains how participatory action research was conducted to support FCHVs in addressing gender norms and power dynamics. A series of participatory activities were conducted engaging FCHVs and municipal officials, enabling them to identify gender issues and co-create videos showing FCHVs’ lived experiences and challenges. The video (which you can watch here) highlights a lack of recognition of their dual responsibilities and fostered community appreciation of their work. As a result of producing the video FCHVs reported increased self-confidence, technical skills, and support from families and stakeholders, positioning the video as a tool for promoting gender equality and inclusivity in the health system.

 

There’s more on this study here.

 

 

 

Poster presentations

  • Differential role of non-state actors in health service delivery and health system resilience in a double crisis country in South East Asia – K Than, Myanmar – Exhibition Hall, Abstract ID: 1300
  • Integration and resilience of health system responses for refugees: reflections from the experience of Mauritania – Maria Bertone, Queen Margaret University – Exhibition Hall, Abstract ID:  1302

 

ReBUILD for Resilience sessions

Find sessions linked to ReBUILD members and our areas of study here.

 

 

"ReBUILD for Resilience brings together partners to share experiences, to discuss our contexts, and to create an appropriate model that helps build resilience in health systems across the country and beyond"

Sushil Baral, HERD International