Peqod :: Classes - Columbia University Catalog of Classes

It is widely acknowledged that reducing maternal mortality is one of the major challenges to health systems globally. The increased diversity in the magnitude and causes of maternal mortality and morbidity between and within populations, as well as the highly inequitable distribution of poor maternal health between and within populations globally and locally, result in “wicked” problems and present a major challenge as we seek to address these varying needs.
The complex web of factors that interact to drive high levels of maternal mortality makes a systems approach particularly useful for gaining insight into, and addressing these issues. Increasingly, health planners and researchers are using systems thinking to make sense of health system functioning to reveal the dynamic relationships and synergies that drive maternal health and affect the delivery of priority health services
This course aims to provide you with the competencies to work in this complex post- MDG/ SDG implementation environment. It is designed to focus on reducing maternal mortality, and employs a systems approach to explore maternal health issues and analyze programs focused on maternal mortality reduction.
Through this course you will:
-Gain substantive knowledge of issues related to:
o Maternal health - in particular the reduction of maternal morbidity
and mortality - including epidemiological and programmatic
aspects as well as current discussions of related policies and
politics.
o Aspects of health systems strengthening– particular focus on
issues of implementation, human resources for health, governance
and accountability, quality of care, and health care financing as it
relates to delivery of maternal health care.
-Develop skills in:
o Analyzing complex health systems, including the application of
systems thinking tools
o Developing an integrated health systems plan to address maternal
mortality.
The assignments are structured to allow you to pursue an area of maternal mortality of morbidity that is of direct interest to you, be it locally or globally, as well as apply the skills and content covered in the course to develop an integrated approach to addressing maternal mortality in a given country.
While this course is intended for MPH students, students from other schools are encoura

Department: Population and Family Health
M 4 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
Instructor: Helen de Pinho
Info
3 points

Details

POPF P9675

Lessons Unlearned in Humanitarian Asst

Despite record funding and organizations dedicated to humanitarian assistance, the prevailing narrative in our field is of a ‘humanitarianism in crisis’ - we are responding to an overwhelming number of acute crises with complex social, political and ideological challenges unprecedented in the history of humanitarian action. An examination of the true history of humanitarian action however reveals that many struggles confronting us today are neither entirely novel nor unique.
This course is premised on the belief that humanitarians rarely understand the full nature of the previous crises that have challenged our field and argues that only by better understanding these historical events can we can improve our response to future crises. This class is a critical examination of these events and an exploration of the oft-repeated themes that continue to challenge humanitarian assistance to this day. Through thoughtful reflection and interactive discussion we will explore the progress we’ve made as a field and why lessons identified so often fail to become lessons learned.
We will start by exploring the humanitarian system’s origins in the Enlightenment principles of Western Europe and the transition from ‘humanitarianism’ as an abstraction to the concrete operational imperative that exists today. Each subsequent class will focus on a separate seminal event in public health and humanitarian assistance, namely - the Nigerian Civil War; the Ethiopian Famine; the West Africa Ebola epidemic; the Haiti earthquake; and the ongoing conflict in Syria. We will examine the history of the event itself as well as the role played by the humanitarian community – in their response, challenges, and lessons learned. Throughout the course, we will identify the recurring themes across crises and critically debate what impact these historical precedents have on the current and future humanitarian sector.
It is my hope that students will recognize that the lack of historical, operational, and institutional memory is a significant problem that challenges our field, and that by better understanding the underlying pillars and the historical events that have shaped the current humanitarian sector will we be better prepared to respond to future humanitarian crises.
This course is being offered as an elective with a target audience of graduate students in Forced Migration and Health in the Department of Population and Family Health.

Department: Population and Family Health
M 8:30 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
Instructor: Carrie L Teicher
Info
1.5 points

Details

POPF P9691