Course in Community-Based Health and Development for Medical/Public Health Students
17 June - 12 July 2013
About CRHP
The Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed (CRHP), has been working among the rural poor and marginalized for over 40 years. Founded in 1970 by Drs. Raj and Mabelle Arole to bring healthcare to the poorest of the poor, CRHP has become an organization that empowers people to eliminate injustices through integrated efforts in health and development. CRHP works by mobilizing and building the capacity of communities to achieve access to comprehensive development and freedom from stigma, poverty and disease.
Pioneering a comprehensive approach to primary community-based healthcare, known as the Jamkhed Model, CRHP has been a leader in public health and development in rural communities in India and around the world. The work of CRHP has been recognized by the WHO and UNICEF as well as being introduced to 178 countries across the world. In the last 40 years, CRHP has directly worked with over 300 villages in 8 Blocks with concentration mainly in Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra.
About the Course
This course, offered by the Jamkhed Institute of Training and Research, is intended to familiarize students with CRHP's integrated approach to the principles of Community-Based Health and Development (CBHD). Through presentations and facilitated discussions, students study the common health issues and challenges faced in the developing world with possible community-based solutions grounded in a multidisciplinary framework. At the end of the course, students work on developing an action plan for applying the model and concepts learned in another context and present this in a final presentation.
Topics are based on relevant themes in global health, rural development and community participation. In addition to classroom sessions, students engage in village visits and discussions with community groups such as Farmers' Clubs, Women's Self-Help Groups, Adolescent Groups and Village Health Workers.
Please note that this is not a clinical course, although limited hospital observation opportunities are available. Students should have a genuine interest in learning about a health and development model which goes beyond the incidence of disease and recognizes the social determinants of health such as gender, caste, environment and economy.
Subjects Covered Include:
- Principles of CBHD: equity, integration, empowerment, appropriate technology
- Collaborating with communities, village health workers, community organizing
- Social and other determinants: multi-sectorial approaches
- Common health issues in community context, with focus on: women, children, mental health, communicable, and chronic diseases
- Alternative health systems
- Training, participatory methods
- Personal development, leadership
- Program planning and applying the model
