142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Research and Advocacy for Health in India (RAHI): An Indo-US collaborative to reduce health disparities in India

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 4:56 PM - 5:09 PM

Apurv Soni, BA , School of Medicine/ Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Nisha Fahey, BA , College of Osteopathic Medicine, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA
Heena Santry, MD, MS , Department of Surgery, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Surgical Research Scholars Program, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd , Office of Undergraduate Medical Education, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Michael Chin, MD , Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Jeroan J. Allison, MD, MSc , Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Somashekhar Nimbalkar, MD , Central Research Services, Charutar Arogya Mandal, Karamsad, Gujarat, India
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Issues:In 2005, India launched three reformative healthcare policies and programs to improve Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and expand health coverage in rural areas. However, they lack strong support of evidence based findings and have failed to significantly reduce health disparities.

Description:RAHI, led by two medical students from U.S.A., is a joint effort between a charitable Indian tertiary-care hospital and an American academic institution aiming to strengthen the public healthcare system of rural western India through community-based participatory research and advocacy. Leveraging the commitment of founding institutions through funding and in-kind support, RAHI developed an international collaborative platform for faculty and students to work together and with the community to investigate the underlying causes of health disparities and develop innovative solutions. Solutions are likely to succeed when community is engaged in the research process. RAHI’s focus is guided by findings from community health needs assessment (CHNA) through a cross-sectional survey of female community members and discussions with local health ministry and key stakeholders. RAHI’s current research identifies predictors and underlying causes of poor MCH. A community-based trauma outcomes registry and surveillance program will begin in August 2014. Other key areas as identified by CHNA include type-2-diabetes-mellitus and tobacco utilization among adolescents.

Conclusion:The ongoing participation of community, students, and faculty, paired with the engagement of public officials and community stakeholders provides an innovative platform for launching evidence-based, community interventions within existing public health infrastructure. RAHI serves as a model of international and inter-institutional partnership to promote health equity in underserved populations.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe the formation, structure, and vision of an international collaborative to gather evidence and drive advocacy for reduction of health disparities in rural India. Discuss the current status of public health infrastructure and related policy-making in India. Demonstrate the role of academic researchers, healthcare professionals, and student researchers in driving advocacy for social change that improves health equity.

Keyword(s): Health Disparities/Inequities, Partnerships

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a second year MD/PhD student and a co-founder of Research and Health Advocacy in India (RAHI). I am a co-investigator on the grant received by RAHI to study Maternal and Child Health in rural western India. Additionally, I am actively involved with other RAHI members in developing the next research study on trauma outcomes, a platform for student exchange, and the community-based advocacy plan for policy based interventions.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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