Importance of networking of public health institutes in India

Improving health through reforms of professional education by establishing networks and partnerships takes advantage of information and communication linkages. The primary goal  is to highlight the potential of networks and partnerships in advancing the agenda of educational reforms to revitalize public health education in India. It outlines the current status and expanding scope of public health education in India, existing networks of public health professionals and public health education institutions in the country, and opportunities, advantages and challenges for such networks.

Although, we have networks of individuals and institutions in the country, there potential to bring about change has still not being utilized fully and effectively. Immediate collaborative efforts could be directed towards designing and adaptation of competency driven curriculum frameworks suitable of addressing public health challenges of 21st century, shifting the current focus of curriculum to multidisciplinary public health outlook, developing accreditation mechanisms for both the programs and institutions, engaging in creating job opportunities and designing career pathways for public health professionals in public and private sector.

Networks can become valuable tool to enhance the management, sharing and co-creation of knowledge in public health. They can also prove to be beneficial in augmenting professional and organizational capacity development and system change. 

Reference:

//www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2013;volume=57;issue=3;spage=155;epage=160;aulast=Sharma

 The Networking between non-government organisations in the health sector is recognised as an effective method of improving service delivery. The Uttarakhand Cluster was established in 2008 as a collaboration of community health programs in rural north India with the aim of building capacity, increasing visibility and improving linkages with the government. This qualitative research, conducted between 2011-2012, examined the factors contributing to formation and sustainability of this clustering approach.

The analysis demonstrated that relationships were central to the formation and sustainability of the cluster. The elements of small group relationships: forming, storming, norming and performing emerged as a helpful way to describe the phases which have contributed to the functioning of this network with common values, strong leadership, resource sharing and visible progress encouraging the ongoing commitment of programs to the network goals.

There is evidence from the literature that networking between local organization increases community awareness and participation provides a forum for synthesizing new evidence and ideas,amplifies messages for dissemination,improves efficiency and effectiveness of members through facilitation of learning,provides access to resources and gives an opportunity for members to improve inter-organisational linkages.

Reference

All public health challenges be it various disease burdens, pandemics or questions of public health reforms, inequity, inequality, financing have global dimensions  and determinants. Therefore, all such problems and challenges also require global perspective and international cooperation specially in teaching students who would serve as experts and specialists in the field. The below mentioned papers talks about the lessons which were learnt during a joint collaboration ie International Public Health Partnership- a collaboration between a university in Germany and universities in India, Turkey and Germany. It included exchange of information, structural development of universities, intercultural dialog by various offline and online activities, fostering discussion about the transferability of various concepts of public health. It received a lot of acceptance from students and faculty but faced many other challenges like financial, time and personnel resource crunch, limited funding and dilution of structures of degree programs at the partnership sites and divergence of regulations. An interesting read for  recommendations on collaborations and partnerships. 

//www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00036/full

Networking of Public Health Institution in India is Utmost importance to Uniform & standard teaching topics and qualification for the scholar of Public Health.

It has been found on study about Public Health institutes that Under graduate or entrance qualification is different for Under Graduate and Master courses for different Public Health institutes as well course, duration and course subjects are different for different Institutes.

As India is Developing Country, the Public Health is the priority Subject to enhance Public Health and Reduce Out of Pocket Expenditure due to Health issue which help to Minimize numbers of families under poverty line.  Thus Networking to bring uniformities of Public health institution in India in context of   entrance qualification, different course duration and course subjects are much important to provide quality work force in Public health in India.

Networking of Public Health Institution in India is Utmost importance to Uniform & standard teaching topics and qualification for the scholar of Public Health.

It has been found on study about Public Health institutes that Under graduate or entrance qualification is different for Under Graduate and Master courses for different Public Health institutes as well course, duration and course subjects are different for different Institutes.

As India is Developing Country, the Public Health is the priority Subject to enhance Public Health and Reduce Out of Pocket Expenditure due to Health issue which help to Minimize numbers of families under poverty line.  Thus Networking to bring uniformities of Public health institution in India in context of   entrance qualification, different course duration and course subjects are much important to provide quality work force in Public health in India.

Importance of networking of public health institutes in India

The Indian subcontinent, Master’s-level Public Health (MlPH) programmes attract graduates of diverse academic disciplines from health and non-health sciences alike. Considering the current and futuristic importance of the public health cadre, we described them and reviewed their transdisciplinarity status based on MlPH admissibility criteria 1995 to 2021.

It suggests that India’s MlPH programmes are less transdisciplinary. Relatively, non-medical institutions offer admission to various academic disciplines than the medical institutions in their MlPH programmes. India’s Master’s level public health programmes could be more inclusive by opening to graduates from trans-disciplinary backgrounds.

The definition of “Transdisciplinarity in Public health” shall be adopted from Stokols et al. “as integrating two or more disciplines, creating fundamentally new conceptual frameworks, perspectives, methods, and synthesizing diverse approaches to address public health problems in real-world settings” . The inter-connections between population health, environment, globalization, climate change and political–demographic–socio-economic–cultural factors demand transdisciplinary research methods and approaches to identify the problems and solutions for the emerging complex global public health problems . Globally, public health education and training are rendered as structured, university-affiliated transdisciplinary programmes to systematically nurture the talents and skills of the diversified pool of academic graduates in various countries . In the United States of America, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia Region, Singapore and China the public health programmes and the institutions were accredited by public health education regulatory bodies with minimum quality standards in terms of inputs, processes, outcomes and performance of the programmes against the evidence-based standards and practice set specific to the nations .

REF---  Ilangovan K, Muthappan S, Govindarajan K, Vairamani V, Venkatasamy V, Ponnaiah M. Transdisciplinarity of India's master's level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995. Hum Resour Health. 2022 Feb 2;20(1):14. doi: 10.1186/s12960-022-00713-4. PMID: 35109861; PMCID: PMC8809628.

Networking in public health involves making making contacts and building relationships with people who work in the field of public health. The purpose of networking is to gather information to focus your job search, seek advice, expand awareness, gain exposure to the job market and generate referrals. 

Networking is very important to healthcare professionals. They are able to get assistance for going about the daily tasks such as collection of data and sample from patients. Getting attention and having more people know you is essential for your career advancement as more referrals could come your way. Many people may also seek your help out by reference of your skills and knowledge that runs in your networking circles.

Networking of public health institutes in India has helped to foster a vibrant public health workforce in India and to better serve the nation towards achieving its public health goals in the following ways;

1.  Public health Institutes have helped to create a common communication platform for qualified public health professionals in from all states of India 
2. They have helped to foster academic, professional, research and business collaboration between qualified public health professionals in India
3. Public health Institutes have helped in the organization of academic professional, research and events of public health relevance and importance through mutual participation of qualified public health professionals from all parts of the country.
4. They have also helped in evolving a social media platforms for qualified public health professionals from all parts if India to make effective communication.
5. They have also helped in creating a pan Indian registered association for qualified public health professionals representative of all regions and background
6. Public health institutes have also helped in conducting advocacy and other activities to achieve recognition for qualified public health professionals for regular employment under government and government controlled institutes, organizations, programs at central and state level.

 People can become authorities and opinion leaders in their fields by standing up and speak out. Start engaging, writing and talking about the topics you are passionate and knowledgeable about. These knowledge not only keep your mind sharp but also add up to build your portfolio. This portfolio can become a valuable resource for networking in the public health industry.

References

1. The Networking guide for public Health Professionals, November,2020. //www.publichealthdegrees.org>
2. //www.linkedin.com>pulse
3. //sph.washington.edu>careers

Networking in public health involves making making contacts and building relationships with people who work in the field of public health. The purpose of networking is to gather information to focus your job search, seek advice, expand awareness, gain exposure to the job market and generate referrals. 

Networking is very important to healthcare professionals. They are able to get assistance for going about the daily tasks such as collection of data and sample from patients. Getting attention and having more people know you is essential for your career advancement as more referrals could come your way. Many people may also seek your help out by reference of your skills and knowledge that runs in your networking circles.

Networking of public health institutes in India has helped to foster a vibrant public health workforce in India and to better serve the nation towards achieving its public health goals in the following ways;

1.  Public health Institutes have helped to create a common communication platform for qualified public health professionals in from all states of India 
2. They have helped to foster academic, professional, research and business collaboration between qualified public health professionals in India
3. Public health Institutes have helped in the organization of academic professional, research and events of public health relevance and importance through mutual participation of qualified public health professionals from all parts of the country.
4. They have also helped in evolving a social media platforms for qualified public health professionals from all parts if India to make effective communication.
5. They have also helped in creating a pan Indian registered association for qualified public health professionals representative of all regions and background
6. Public health institutes have also helped in conducting advocacy and other activities to achieve recognition for qualified public health professionals for regular employment under government and government controlled institutes, organizations, programs at central and state level.

 People can become authorities and opinion leaders in their fields by standing up and speak out. Start engaging, writing and talking about the topics you are passionate and knowledgeable about. These knowledge not only keep your mind sharp but also add up to build your portfolio. This portfolio can become a valuable resource for networking in the public health industry.

References

1. The Networking guide for public Health Professionals, November,2020. //www.publichealthdegrees.org>
2. //www.linkedin.com>pulse
3. //sph.washington.edu>careers

Networks can provide opportunities to share knowledge and skills across organizations and health systems and highlight the value of relationships and partnerships working in public health. By dismantling professional silos and fostering cooperative, nonhierarchical connections in productive teams, they can also promote interprofessional and trans-professional education. By utilizing one another's strengths, institutions can work together to develop joint initiatives. Via networks and collaborations, there is also a lot of room for accreditation activities for institutions and programmes. Cross-institutional partnerships can connect educational institutions to policies and practices while providing complementary academic resources to partner governments, nongovernmental groups, businesses, and media organizations. In these cooperating institutions, students may be offered training, internships, or work-study opportunities, and the partner group may profit.

Reference:

//www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2013;volume=57;issue=3;spage=155;epage=160;aulast=Sharma#ft10

The Lancet Commission on Education of Health Professionals identified three key dimensions of education after specification of the linkages between the health and education systems, institutional design (which specifies the structure and functions of the education system), instructional design (which focuses on processes), and educational outcomes (which deal with the desired results). The institutional design at the systemic level comprised of stewardship and governance, financing, resource generation, and service provision; at the organizational level it is comprised of ownership, affiliation, and internal structure; and at the global level it is comprised of stewardship and networks and partnerships.

Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: Transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet 2010;376:1923-58.  

Networks can become valuable tool to enhance the management, sharing and co-creation of knowledge in public health. They can also prove to be beneficial in augmenting professional and organizational capacity development and system change. Following are the two kinds of public health networks that exist in India depending on their purpose and structure: Networks of individuals and networks of institutions.

1. Networks of individuals

These networks exist as professional associations which comprise of specialists having a set of commonalities and such associations are dedicated to the promotion of public health by bringing its members' expertise together and provide platforms for deliberations on public health policies, for advocating education and research agenda and exchange of views and information.

Example: In India, Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) and Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) are the leading associations of public health professionals in India and have played significant role in shaping several public health initiatives through active engagement of their members.

2. Networks of institutions

In this networking Institutes engaged in public health education to share experiences and resources with each other and involved in facilitating solutions to several critical challenges surrounding public health education and training. This has also provided opportunity to these institutions to collaborate and share resources in advancing the agenda of public health education and training.

Example: In India, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has envisioned the training of in service health professionals in public health management; so that they would oversee a range of functions, including community-based disease surveillance, program planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. 

Ref: //www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2013;volume=57;issue=3;spage=155;epage=160;aulast=Sharma  

The Lancet Commission on Education of Health Professionals identified three key dimensions of education after specification of the linkages between the health and education systems, institutional design (which specifies the structure and functions of the education system), instructional design (which focuses on processes), and educational outcomes (which deal with the desired results). The institutional design at the systemic level comprised of stewardship and governance, financing, resource generation, and service provision; at the organizational level it is comprised of ownership, affiliation, and internal structure; and at the global level it is comprised of stewardship and networks and partnerships. 

Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: Transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet 2010;376:1923-58.  

Public health services are ideally different from medical services. The main goal of public health services is to protect and promote the health of all people in all communities. It has helped to improve health of population by preventing exposure to diseases rather than treating diseases. We have an absolute necessity to receive more attention regarding public health services for the betterment of health of society and the quality of life of the people. Simultaneously, Public health institutions are responsible for: Supporting and managing the public health workforce, managing critical public health systems, generating and interpreting public health data, and ensuring the translation of data into policy, policy into action, and action into measurable improvements in health. Public health institutions have also needed to strengthen throughout the globe and not only at the national level but also international level with interconnectedness with each other for the globalization of the concept of and importance of public health and uniformity in education, practice, and health services delivered through public health institutions. 

References

1. “Das Gupta, Monica. 2005. Public Health in India: An Overview. Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3787. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. //openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/8541 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.” Available from:  //hdl.handle.net/10986/8541

Networking among public health professionals and organizations can facilitate the sharing of best practices, innovative approaches, and new research findings. It enables the pooling of resources and expertise to address public health challenges more effectively. This can help to improve the quality of public health education, ensuring that students are exposed to the latest developments and cutting-edge practices in the field.  It enables the pooling of resources and expertise to address public health challenges more effectively.

In addition, networking can lead to the development of more effective and patient-centered public health interventions, as well as better coordination of care and services across different sectors and settings. It can also enable the sharing of patient data and research findings, leading to a better understanding of health outcomes and the development of evidence-based approaches to patient care. It will also help to amplify the voice of public health professionals and advocates for public health policies and practices. It provides a platform for advocacy efforts and helps to raise awareness of public health issues among policymakers and the general public.

Not only that, it can lead to the standardization of public health practices and protocols, which can help to ensure consistency in the quality of care and services provided across different regions and settings.

References:

1. Keeling A, Donaldson L. Networking for better public health practice: part one--an overview of networks and their rationale. J Public Health Med. 2001 Mar;23(1):17-20. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/23.1.17. PMID: 11304050.

2. Arita M, Kamo Y, Murashige N, Yoshida H, Higuchi M, Hayakawa T, Hirose Y, Watanabe H. Network analysis of a public health nursing organization: development of collaboration and the relationship between the structure of the network and decision-making. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019 Jul 5;19(1):446. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4227-6. PMID: 31277628; PMCID: PMC6613175.

Networking is collaborating with people in the same field with diverse backgrounds. As this can facilitate and strengthen the work process and implementation of programs.

A good paper to read:

Transforming public health education in India through networking and collaborations: Opportunities and challenges.

Link: //pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24125930/