IHI Minutes
Jan 26, 2011
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International Health Initiative Minutes
Jan 26, 2011
Attendees:
Kim Hesketh, Chris Stokes, Stephany Berinstein, Helen Turner, Sarah Slen, Amanda Ho,
Donna Drynan, Veronica Solimano, Farah Walji, Tatiana Zrnic, Christina Powell,
Heather Lawrence, Jessica Leung, Ashea Neil, Tara Trethewey, Wendy Lam, Lisa Tran,
Joanha Chung
BCSOT Update
• IHI group will receive $200/yr from BSCOT for being an Special Interest Group
• Some of the funds were used for food and drink for this meeting
• Majority of funds will be used for maintenance of the
www.internationalhealthinitiatives.com website.
• Using the BSCOT website for posting comments and or documents is inefficient
therefore IHI will continue to use its independent website for this.
ICDR
• Penny Parnes joined the group via telephone to give a overview of the development
and workings of ICDR
• Started in 2004
• Focus on ‘Authentic Partnerships” and building capacity. They do not aim to be
the long term providers/solution with their projects
• Discussed the development of the ICDR Strategic plan.
• Reports that they developed through the university with the hopes of apply the
rigor and standards associated with academic work to their international
programs
• Has results in a large number of students doing international placements
• Reports that there are pro and cons of being so closely tied to the university
• Participates in fundraising activities
• Divided into working groups/knowledge clusters based on country as well as
specific populations (i.e. HIV/AIDS, communication disorders, appropriate
technology etc…)
• Members of IHI are invited the join the ICDR List Serve if they would like.
They would receive approx 1-3 emails a week from Penny on International
Issues/stories.
UBC
• The OT application for applying to be a Clinical Instructor is posted on the IHI
website.
• A PT one will be attained and also added to the web site.
IHI WEBSITE
 Now an independent website without the “weebly” therefore the new address is:
www.internationalhealthinitiatives.com
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• The google groups will continue to be used for mass emails.
• The site forums will be used for discussion!
** CONTINUED large Thank You to Amanda Ho for monitoring and updating the
site****
INTRODUCTION OF THE MISSION STATEMENT AND VALUES
• Since the last meeting, Amanda, Farah, and Kim reviewed the key concepts and terms
presented at the meeting a created a possible mission and values. These were
presented to the group for discussion.
Mission
1. Collaborate with national and international organizations to coordinate and
deliver sustainable interdisciplinary rehabilitation in underserved areas.
2. Promote the role of interdisciplinary rehabilitation to optimize health and
well being
3. Promote and facilitate engagement of communities to build their own
capacity.
4. Act as a resource for interdisciplinary rehabilitation professionals who share
an interest in international health.
Values
1. Promote a community focus and assets based approach to ensure
sustainability of programs.
1. Build effective partnerships with various stakeholders.
2. Promote human rights and equality for people and communities in
underserved areas.
3. Empower people with disabilities to participate fully as members of their
community.
4. Utilize principles of community based rehabilitation to guide actions.
5. To increase education about disability and rehabilitation in underdeveloped
and developing regions.
6. Promote knowledge sharing among interdisciplinary rehabilitation
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The group was in agreement with the above mission and values.
It was decided that everyone should be given the opportunity to review these in more
detail. Therefore a forum will be created for discussion on the website. They will be
solidified and set by next meeting.
Motion to Change the Name of the Group
 It was proposed by Kim to change the name of the group to simply “International
Health Initiatives”. This would remove BCSOT and UBC from the name of the
group. This was proposed to help with inclusion of all rehabilitation staff and
because the ties to UBC at this point appear to be through specific members only.
 It was proposed that UBC and BCSOT be considered affiliations in the groups
description instead.
IHI Minutes
Jan 26, 2011
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The group agreed with this and there were no concerns. Therefore at this time the
groups name in International Health Initiatives.
IINTRODUCTION OF POSSIBLE PROJECTS
Cameroon
• Amanda presented a project in Cameroon that would be in partnership with the ICDR.
• Below is a description of the project from Amanda – This is on the web site under
forums and members are encouraged to comment and give their feedback.
Bamenda, Northwest Province
Project Coordinators: Nshiom Kenneth and International Health Initiatives (IHI)
Collaborators: IHI, Kate Suffling, Lynn Cockburn, others in Cameroon and Canada
The goal of this program is to improve the availability and quality of upper extremity
rehab in the NorthWest province of Cameroon
Specific objectives include
o To develop a training manual/textbook/reference guide for hand therapy
appropriate to this context
o To reach all rehabilitation providers in the province so that they are aware of
opportunities for hand therapy
o Specifically train at least 50 nurses, doctors and others (CHWs) who see
patients with hand injuries, and to reach all hospitals and several health
centers to increase awareness of opportunities for referral
o Develop strategies to use locally available and sustainable products in hand
therapy
o Learn from similar initiatives in other LIC’s and resource poor areas
Curriculum
We see the training manual/textbook as a major outcome of this project, and
something which will be developed over a period of two to three years through a
collaborative and participatory process. It will it evolve as workshops are held and
various providers make contributions. We anticipate that this curriculum could have
4 general sections
1) Upper extremity anatomy
2) Understanding hand injuries, illnesses, conditions and diseases that
affect the UE and UE impairments with a focus on common issues
inclusion of a few rarer ones.
3) Specific interventions
4) Program development what to consider when developing an UE
program
All of this will have research and best practice embedded within it.
with
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Draft Timeline
Year 1: Identify initial team, needs assessment, draft project plan, obtain funding,
draft initial materials for first workshops/other education
- therapist(s) have one trip to Cameroon
Year 2: Continue to collect information on the incidence, prevalence, and
experiences related to UE impairments and injuries (hopefully some of this will be
formally done as “research”).
Continue to develop and refine the materials
One or two major workshops/training sessions
- 1 trip to Cameroon; 2 student placements;
- One or two Cameroon therapists visit Canada for training
Year 3: Pilot and refine the workshop materials
- 1 trip to Cameroon; 2 student placements;
Several workshops/training sessions – hopefully in different locations
- One or two Cameroon therapists visit Canada for training
Year 4: Finalize and implement the program
- 1 trip to Cameroon; 2 student placements
- Publish the Manual/Text
Cambodia
• Kim was approached by Will Grut from Rose Charities for a possible partnership on a
project/work in Cambodia.
• Kim requested to have further meetings with the Will Grut and Rose Charities under
IHI.
• There were no objections to this so Kim will set up a meeting and interested
members can accompany her.
• Currently there are limited details about the project. It is known that Rose Charities
has the Rose Rehabilitation Centre in Cambodia. They are developing a relationship
with Tokyo Bak who is a PT mentor for Veterans International (which has 3 PT
centres in Cambodia) and the VP for the Cambodian PT Association.
• Kim will post a more detailed description of possible collaboration ideas after the
Rose Charities/IHI meeting.
Tanzania
 Stephanie proposed a possible project in Zanzibar, Tanzania
 There are several groups located in Tanzania that could be used as
connections/partnerships: ICDR, CCBRT, 2 local OTs
 Stephanie has started to put feelers out to see what the needs would be.
 Stephanie and/or other group members will investigate more and create a
presentation/proposal on a project idea.
IHI Minutes
Jan 26, 2011
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ACTION ITEMS
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Please visit the new web site www.internationalhealthinitiatives.com
You can even “like” the website on facebook!
Farah to provide the PT application for clinical instructor to UBC
Amanda will change the name of the website to International Health Initiatives and
the description of the group to include affiliations with BCSOT and UBC.
Kim to set up a meeting with Will Grut from Rose Charities about the possibility of a
joint partnership in Cambodia.
Kim will post a more detailed proposal about possible work in Cambodia
Stephanie will post a more detailed description of possible work in Tanzania
Those with possible projects are requested to post a detailed description of the project
to the forum for other members to review by February 11 so that we can vote on a
project by our next meeting
Members need to review the mission and values on the website. If there are no
concerns posted by next meeting the Mission and Values will stand as is.
ALL MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FORUMS
ON THE WEB SITE! This is the only way progress will be made between
meetings.
Amanda to create a link on the website for members to view the ICDR Stategic Plan.
Next Meeting
• Detailed 5-10 min presentations on the possible projects.
• Christina is invited to present on her recent trip to Cambodia.
• Solidify Mission and Values
Future Plans
Strategic planning for projects
Fundraising
We would like to apologize to everyone for the technical difficulties. Also we
apologize to any one who attempted to Skype in for our meeting. Due to technical
difficulties we were unable to log onto the IHI Skype account. We will do out best to
fix this by next meeting.
NEXT MEETING: Thurs March 3, 2011 at 5pm at Sunny Hill
***If members are unable to attend there will be an option to Skype - The Skype account
to call is internationalhealthinitiative - please add us to your Skype contact list and we
will be online at the time of the meeting.
If there is any problems please call Kim Hesketh’s cell at 778 987 1934