Option #1: African Medical and Research Foundation Case Study Review

In this assignment, you will review the case study on AMREF found in Chapter 4 of your textbook ( I HAVE INCLUDED THE CASE STUDY AT THE END OF THE SUBMISSION), the first case study in the section “Involving Communities in Their Health.”

In approximately two pages, your paper should address the following:

1. What elements of broad strategic thinking do you see demonstrated?

2. What aspects of social development are addressed?

3. What evidence of healthy public policy do you see?

4. Do you see evidence of systems development for health or social policy and related programming?

5. What information stood out most to you from this case study that you might be able to apply in your local community?

Instructions:

· Write a 2- to 3-page paper of about 1,500 words, not including the title and reference pages, which are required.

· The paper must be formatted correctly using APA style. Remember, all research material used in your paper must be paraphrased and include an in-text citation.

· Your paper must be properly cited and formatted according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements.

· This is an individual paper; however, you should reflect on our Discussion Forums and incorporate ideas from there, as appropriate.

African Medical and Research Case Study

· Be sure you utilize your text appropriately as a reference and cite at least one other credible external reference such as a website or journal article to support your proposed resolution of the case.

· Your external sources can be trade publications, government information, newspaper articles, or scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles journal articles. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find these sources.

· Turn the paper in via the Submissions Folder.

Chapter 4 case study
The Work of AMREF with the Masaai: Our first story is of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF): in 1957, three men of vision launched the Flying Doctor Service in Kenya. From this emerged the African Medical and Research Foundation, Africa’s largest indigenous health NGO. While their first two decades focused on service delivery, AMREF came to realize that episodic clinical visits were neither effective nor efficient, and that community-based approaches were vital. AMREF’s Mission today reflects this recognition: “ . . . In creating vibrant networks of informed communities that work with empowered health workers in stronger health systems, we aim to ensure every African has access to the good health which is theirs by right” 32
AMREF evolved from those beginnings to become a health systems development agency for many countries. Its operations reflect disease burdens at the grassroots: malaria, HIV, school health, water, sanitation and hygiene. Its success in promoting primary health care builds on partnerships. It finds ways to improve people’s health by examining the determinants: environment, culture, economics, micro-financing, politics, leadership and other ingredients. Supported by operational research, many AMREF initiatives become health systems models for Africa, influencing poli- cies and practices across the continent. AMREF is committed to evidence-based community health: an example for the world.
Moving from its origins to an example of AMREF in action: Kenya’s plains offer little water and swarms of flies, and trachoma persists among the Masaai. In tradi- tional culture, each wife shares a one-room home with her children and newborn animals, preparing meals on a contaminated floor. To tackle this leading infectious cause of blindness, AMREF applies WHO’s “SAFE” protocol: Surgery to treat end-stage disease, Antibiotics to reduce the reservoir of infection, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvements, for example: “leaky tin technology” (a tin-can with a hole plugged by a thorn allows clean water to remain uncontaminated and used sparingly) to reduce transmission.
A recent report on AMREF’s work in the Rift Valley reveals that the SAFE pro- tocol reduced active disease within 3 years in children from 47% to 16.0%, while potentially blinding trachoma declined 4.5% to 1.7%. The proportion of faces with many flies fell over 4 years from 48% to 6%.33 The strategy is sustainable and has advanced eye care policy globally, boding well for WHO’s goal of elimination by 2020 (GET 2020).34

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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

 

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.