An Ethics Assessment Model for Teaching Global Health Program and Policy Implementation

Abstract

This mixed-method study surveyed and interviewed 60 High Income Country (HIC) US citizens/immigrants and Low-to-Middle-Income-Country (LMIC) citizens of African heritage on their perceptions of mental health services in African communities for implementation and research planning. In this study, ethics was a core emergent theme for global health initiatives and challenges, including political will for ethical change, community gatekeepers, level of government involvement, community-wide participation, public-private sector collaboration, health literacy and education, transparency, continuous monitoring, and consequences for ethical infractions. Based on our findings, we propose an active teaching and learning methodology of problem-based (PBL) and team-based learning (TBL) with multi-level HIC-LMIC citizen engagement for ethics in global health program productivity and sustainability. The intended result is to produce ethically trained and equipped health professionals, enhanced HIC and LMIC capacity building, cultural humility, and decolonization of health programs and policies.