Competition 15: Funded by Colciencias and Sapiencia
Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Bogotá, Colombia
Partner: Eastern Washington University, Washington, United States
Virtual Health Sciences Education to Tackle Rural Health Outcomes in Post-Conflict Colombia
In this 100K project, Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas (Corpas), partnered with Eastern Washington University (EWU), to develop a program focused on health care and post-conflict studies that provided students the opportunity to conduct research and create policy proposals on improving health outcomes and increasing access to health care in post-conflict rural settings in Colombia. Before beginning the field research, students participated in a “Jovenes Investigadores” event organized by Colciencias in Bogotá. They also prepared for their field research by attending training sessions for conducting household interviews, including a review of the instrument to be used in victim interviews. A meeting at the Colombian Ministry of Health was conducted with various ministry staff responsible for creation and implementation of the national rural health plan and various victim and community agencies.
In May 2018, a team of nurses, doctors, epidemiologists, and students from EWU and Corpas (roughly 25 people in all) traveled to Algeciras, Huila, Colombia to conduct the field research portion of the program. While there, students met with local health staff, visited the local hospital and health centers, observed focus groups with community leaders and city council members, and attended group sessions with local, department, and national stakeholders. For the purposes of data collection, students interviewed families, landowners, and NGO and local organization staff and conducted comprehensive household surveys to determine victim status and health care needs.
After completing their field research, students drafted the final policy recommendations paper as well as final research papers. The final paper was jointly written by 11 students – 5 public health students from EWU, 8 medical students from Corpas, and 3 nursing students from Corpas. The final paper contains recommendations ranging from waste management to health funds management to ways to improve the population’s nutrition. The narrative policy paper was also accompanied by a robust research paper which informed and supplemented the final policy recommendations. The research work analyzed qualitative and quantitative components including focus groups with local stakeholders, household surveys, and an analysis of available health authority statistics.
Additional Project Materials/Media:
Final Research Report: Propuesta de Política Salud en Algeciras, Huila
Colciencias Video Featuring Corpas Student Partipicants