Lessons learned through health partnerships and experiences in Kenya and other low- and middle-income countries can be applied to improve health for communities in Indiana. Conversely, healthcare innovations that are effective in low-resource communities in Indiana can be used to improve healthcare in communities around the world as well.
This is the basis for the concept of “reciprocal innovation” and the main idea behind the Applying Global Lessons to Advance Health Equity in Indiana (APPLE-IN) grant funded by Eli Lilly and Company Foundation to Indiana University through the IU Center for Global Health Equity (IUCGHE).
"Our global health community in Indiana has a deep knowledge base and has worked with talented colleagues around the world to improve health outcomes in communities with incredible challenges,” said Laura Ruhl, MD, MPH, director of reciprocal innovation for IUCGHE. “When these global health experts join in partnership with people from communities in Indiana facing some of the same challenges, we have the collective power to make real progress toward improved health outcomes.”
The first step toward building sustainable partnerships is bringing people together. In February, the Haitian Association of Indiana (HAI) convened a group of more than 20 representatives from community partners to discuss the needs and challenges in the Haitian community including immigrants and refugees. Indiana has a large and growing Haitian community and the HAI is a non-profit organization that provides social services, educational and wellness support to Haitians in greater Indianapolis and the state of Indiana.
Leaders from IUCGHE, Eskenazi Health, Regenstrief Institute, Immigrant Welcome Center, Exodus Refugee Immigration, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Marion County Public Health Department, Deborah’s Place (transitional housing for women), Purdue Center for Health Equity and Lawrence Township Education and Community Center joined the HAI to discuss the Haitian community’s greatest challenges impacting health.
Through robust discussions, the group identified three areas of focus for the initial meeting:
- Job preparedness, including education, English as a second language classes, and training
- Stable housing
- Infant and maternal health
The group participated in an activity to create a Problem Tree Analysis for the three focus areas. Participants identified root causes, branch effects/consequences, available resources and potential strategies to overcome the challenges. Mental health was identified as a cross-cutting area of concern for all three focus areas.
Social determinants of health such as stable housing and income generation have a major impact on individual and community health. Successful health partnerships look holistically at all of the factors that improve or challenge access to healthcare.
“This meeting was a wonderful start to forming a Haitian Health Coalition to continue to build partnerships and collaborate on initiatives to improve health in Indiana’s Haitian community,” said Dominique Dumornay, case manager for HAI. “We look forward to continuing to work together to build this collaboration and bring in more partners to improve the health for our families and neighbors. Hopefully, we can create a model that others can use to improve health in their communities as well.”
The Haitian Health Coalition began meeting in late April and welcomes interested community members and groups to join. For more information contact: Rish O’Brien
