Health Systems

Alaq Al-Muwali ’19 is passionate about systems thinking and health systems strengthening. She previously served as Program Assistant at Partners Iraq, a field office of the DC-based non-profit Partners Global, where she worked to ensure the protection of Iraqi women from violence and discrimination through the promotion of the gender provisions of national Iraqi laws.

Community health programs are cost-effective and supported by local governments and NGOs, but they face sustainability issues due to funding and political instability. Pratiksha Dhungana ’21 wrote that strengthening CHW initiatives will allow Nepal to boost health outcomes, narrow healthcare gaps, and foster a wellness code across local communities.

During the initial months of COVID-19, Jonatan Konfino ’18 and Silvia Kochen (GBHI fellow) worked together in Argentina to design a system in collaboration with other hospitals that could harness and fill available hospital beds in regions of Buenos Aires by coordinating collective efforts throughout the region.

Jordi Luke ’18 was on a team at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health that developed a primer to support clinical and non-clinical staff in healthcare settings as they collaborate to improve quality, satisfaction, and physical accessibility for people with disabilities. The primer offers strategies and resources to remove barriers and deliver high-quality, patient-centered care, addressing physical or structural barriers to health care.

Medha D. Makhlouf ’20 advocated for legal and health care professionals to help persuade state Medicaid officials to broaden their interpretation of emergency medical conditions. This would allow states to improve access to care for uninsured, lower-income non-citizens with serious health conditions.

Daniel Mistak ’23 published an analysis about the United States federal government allowing states to extend Medicaid coverage to incarcerated individuals before their release to improve public safety and health. He explained how new Medicaid waiver opportunities can improve the relationship between the health and justice systems.

Peter Gan Kim Soon ’20 examined how the healthcare system of the Malaysia Kinta District handled COVID-19. As most confirmed cases were asymptomatic, he found that a coordinated and systematic approach to tracing, testing and isolating close contacts was critical, highlighting the importance of public health experience in providing a comprehensive and integrated response to managing COVID-19.

Megan Srinivas ’20 conducted a scoping review that identified three case studies in diagnostics across different geographic, cultural and health system contexts. They include malaria testing via schools in Malawi, HPV sample self-collection in Peru, and crowdsourcing human immunodeficiency virus testing in China. The approach presents a unique opportunity to address public health issues better and increase accessibility in health systems.

Claire Thomas '21 supports healthcare systems in meeting their economic equity goals by directing their spending toward diverse local businesses, directly investing in the local economic ecosystem, and advancing public policy that creates more equitable health and economic outcomes.