Global Health Delivery Case Studies
Access GHD Case Library
About GHD Cases | Q & A | Press Release
Q & A
What is a global health case study?
The case method is a teaching approach that puts students in the roles of decision-makers to simulate real-life experiences. A global health delivery case study is a narrative description of a global health organization or program working to provide health care services and products to a defined population, usually in a resource- poor setting. Each of the 21 case studies is a 13- to 15-page story, written in accessible prose, which describes actual scenario—complete with the constraints and incomplete information found in real global health situations in settings of extreme poverty. Readers in the classroom and in the field have an opportunity to analyze the principles of global health strategy and management and to understand the complexities surrounding implementation, expansion, and sustainability.
Why are they available at no cost?
Those in resource-constrained settings, where disease burden is often the highest and global health delivery is most critical, often have limited access to training and continuing education programs. Harvard Business Publishing and the Global Health Delivery Project hope that making the cases available online at no cost to the user will increase access to training in global health delivery, thereby improving health, where it is most needed. Through the generosity of our supporters, these case studies will be public goods for global health education.
Harvard Business Publishing is supporting the online publication and distribution of the cases, and the Global Health Delivery Project has received case development support from multiple sources including The Pershing Square Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Who created these case studies?
The case studies were developed and are being released by the Global Health Delivery Project. A team of case writers supervised by Harvard Medical School faculty spent time with key leaders, interviewed a wide range of stakeholders, undertook extensive background research and literature reviews, and synthesized their findings into comprehensive teaching cases. Faculty members have been teaching the cases for nearly four years and have developed detailed teaching plans for educators that accompany each case.
This effort was set in motion four years ago by three leaders in global health and business strategy: Harvard Professors Dr. Paul Farmer and Michael Porter, and Dr. Jim Kim, current President of Dartmouth College. They initiated the creation of these case studies to help systemize the study of global health delivery and to rapidly disseminate knowledge to practitioners. The release of these case studies is the culmination of a robust and focused effort to disseminate valuable lessons learned in global health delivery, as well as inspire more study of this discipline.
What material do these case studies cover?
Countries addressed in the current case studies include: Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Haiti, India, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, and Uganda. Specific issues and scenarios described include the development of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) treatment protocols and programs; efforts of one community based organization to improve voluntary counseling and testing of HIV/AIDS; and how a non- governmental organization, one of the first to become involved with HIV/AIDS in Africa, scaled up its services.
Has anyone used these cases before?
Yes. The cases have been taught at Harvard Business School, Harvard College, the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and MIT’s Sloan School of Management. The cases form the cornerstone of Harvard’s Global Health Effectiveness Program, an intensive 3-week summer session for health care professionals inaugurated in 2009 and attended by nearly 100 professionals so far. The GHD Project aims to promote case-based learning globally by hosting faculty training workshops across Africa and by building a network of global health delivery educators.
Who can access them?
Anyone with access to the internet can view and download the teaching cases. Those who register as educators through the Harvard Business Publishing site will be able to access the accompanying teaching notes that aid instructors in the use of cases and provide analysis and questions intended to present approaches to deepen students’ comprehension of health care delivery issues and energize in classroom discussion.
Who should use them?
We imagine a diverse population of users. They might include faculty at graduate schools of public health, medicine, business, or related fields in the U.S. and abroad; American and international practitioners already at work in the field; community-based organizations working to provide health care in resource-poor settings; and ministries of health in countries around the world. The cases can also be used for executive education programs targeting clinicians, program managers, and global health leaders.
Why are there only 21?
The 21 cases just released were in development for four years; the set comprises the largest and most current body of work of this kind. More cases are in development, but we wanted to provide access to our completed work in the meantime, knowing that these cases fill a critical gap in global health education. The first 21 cases provide sufficient content for a semester-long course, or they can be integrated with other content.
If there are plans to write additional case studies, what issues will you tackle?
We plan to tackle maternal and child health; hospital design; global surgical care; chronic diseases; neglected tropical diseases; and other emerging global health themes such as road safety.
What is the GHD Project?
The Global Health Delivery Project (GHD) is a collaborative effort among several Harvard University institutions working to systematize the study of health delivery, to diffuse new learning to practitioners, and to dramatically improve health care delivery in resource-poor settings. As noted above, the project and the development of the cases have been funded, among others, by The Pershing Square Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
How did you select which issues to include in the case studies?
We began the case writing project focusing on pressing issues in global health delivery, such as the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, the treatment and control of malaria, and tuberculosis control programs. We have expanded the case library to include many other issues in global health delivery and continue to add to it. We chose scenarios that would provide a broad cross-section of the challenges and questions a global health practitioner would encounter in the field – whether s/he is a medical doctor, a pharmacist or a health careprogram manager. We categorize this set of cases into three broad categories: service delivery (the direct provision of health care to patients), product development and delivery, and prevention delivery and policy.
Do other programs in global health use the case method? What makes these case studies different?
Although there are other collections of case studies in global health, ours is the first we know of that employs extensively detailed narratives modeled on the Harvard Business School case method and adapted particularly for use in understanding global health delivery. In addition, sharing teaching notes, study questions and board plans enables faculty new to case methodology to incorporate case based teaching into their current curriculum. We believe the most useful skills are those you can apply in the real world, e.g. how to make tough decisions in the face of ambiguity or how to work within the socioeconomic and political context of a community. These 21 case studies strive to represent the world as it is. Through these cases, we provide readers a framework for analyzing global health situations and expose them to many different countries, projects, and challenges.
How do I access the full-text case study?
To access the full case studies, you must be signed in as a registered user on Harvard Business Publishing. Registration is free and takes just a few moments.
REGISTRATION:
1. Go to the Harvard Business Publishing website (hbsp.harvard.edu).
2. On the right-hand column of the homepage, click on “REGISTER NOW.”
3. Choose “Educator Basic” as your role, unless you are a faculty member at a degree-granting institution (please note: choosing “Educator Premium” requires approval and allows access to the teaching notes). Click
on the red “Register Now” tab under your role.
4. Fill in required information and click on “Register” at the bottom of the page.
DOWNLOADING CASES:
1. Once registered, if not already signed in, you can sign into your account by clicking on “LOGIN NOW” on the right-hand side of the home page.
2. Once you are signed into your account and back on the home page, you can search for the Global Health Delivery cases. Type “ghd” in the search box at the top of the page and press the “Enter” key or click on “GO.”
3. Find the case that interests you. To see the abstract for the case, click the red case title. To download the full case, click the red tab, “+ ADD TO” from the search results page.
4. When prompted, choose to add the case to “My Library.” Click “Go.”
5. In the next box confirming your selection, click “OK.”
6. You will now see the case listed under “My Library Snapshot.” To access the case, you must click on “Go To My Library,” a link located directly below “My Library Snapshot.”
7. You will now see all the materials in your library. Click on “View PDF” to download the full case study.
If you did not find the answer to your question here, please contact cases@ghdonline.org.
For a printable version of this information, please download the Q & A (PDF).
Access GHD Case Library
About GHD Cases | Q & A | Press Release