Comments for People's Policy Institute http://policypeople.org Democracy Works Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:41:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on Motivational interviewing for policymakers by joyce.addo-atuah http://policypeople.org/blog/motivational-interviewing-for-policymakers/#comment-3 joyce.addo-atuah Sat, 16 May 2009 19:57:00 +0000 http://ppi.hatchware.com/?p=177#comment-3 Cassandra's post on Motivational Interviewing of Policy Makers makes a very interesting reading. It reminds me of my own experience in Ghana when I was researching into the Factors Relating to Access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Ghana during my PhD program. I interviewed 4 categories of people (supplemented by documentary materials). These were (1) Health/HIV/AIDS Policy Makers, (2) Development Partners (eg. World Health Organization, UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID etc assisting the Ghana government); (3) Health care providers taking care of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA); and (4) PLWHA themselves.<br /><br />For the purposes of this post I will limit my discussion to the fisrt 2 categories ie. the policy makers and the development partners.<br /><br />Both of these groups had to answer the same set of questions during their interviews following a semi-structured questionnaire that we can divide into 3 major parts (1) available health/HIV/AIDS policies in Ghana and how they relate to access to ART; (2) Structures and processes for accessing ART services in Ghana; (3)Nature of collaboration, if any, between the government of Ghana and the development partners and how this relates to access to ART in Ghana. <br /><br />I must say that I did meet any of these officials who fell into the first category described by Cassandra. Since the breadth of the questions was wide, not all the officials knew about every issue I brought up for discussion but ALL of them were ready and willing to listen as I explained issues and their importance to them. All the officials supported the issues of access to ART but they expressed some reservations or limitations to how fast they can roll out access to all those who needed care. Top among these limitations were the inadequacy of the requisite funds, health manpower and other resources to do so. They were all mindful of the fact that quickly expanding access to ART without the requisite resources and systems in place may do more harm than good. <br /><br />All in all, I must say that it was a very illuminating experience.<br /><br />Joyce Addo-Atuah Cassandra’s post on Motivational Interviewing of Policy Makers makes a very interesting reading. It reminds me of my own experience in Ghana when I was researching into the Factors Relating to Access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Ghana during my PhD program. I interviewed 4 categories of people (supplemented by documentary materials). These were (1) Health/HIV/AIDS Policy Makers, (2) Development Partners (eg. World Health Organization, UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID etc assisting the Ghana government); (3) Health care providers taking care of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA); and (4) PLWHA themselves.

For the purposes of this post I will limit my discussion to the fisrt 2 categories ie. the policy makers and the development partners.

Both of these groups had to answer the same set of questions during their interviews following a semi-structured questionnaire that we can divide into 3 major parts (1) available health/HIV/AIDS policies in Ghana and how they relate to access to ART; (2) Structures and processes for accessing ART services in Ghana; (3)Nature of collaboration, if any, between the government of Ghana and the development partners and how this relates to access to ART in Ghana.

I must say that I did meet any of these officials who fell into the first category described by Cassandra. Since the breadth of the questions was wide, not all the officials knew about every issue I brought up for discussion but ALL of them were ready and willing to listen as I explained issues and their importance to them. All the officials supported the issues of access to ART but they expressed some reservations or limitations to how fast they can roll out access to all those who needed care. Top among these limitations were the inadequacy of the requisite funds, health manpower and other resources to do so. They were all mindful of the fact that quickly expanding access to ART without the requisite resources and systems in place may do more harm than good.

All in all, I must say that it was a very illuminating experience.

Joyce Addo-Atuah

]]> Comment on From subjects to citizens by Virginia Zerpa http://policypeople.org/blog/from-subjects-to-citizens/#comment-2 Virginia Zerpa Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:01:00 +0000 http://ppi.hatchware.com/?p=175#comment-2 Viewing myself and the people I work with as citizens will not only make us equal patners, but also as citizens, we will work on the same basis tenet that we together can make changes in our community because we belong. <br />That sense of belonginess creates collective power. Viewing myself and the people I work with as citizens will not only make us equal patners, but also as citizens, we will work on the same basis tenet that we together can make changes in our community because we belong.
That sense of belonginess creates collective power.

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