Global/Local: What Does It Mean for Global Health Educators and How Do We Do It?

Area of Science:

• Global Health Education
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Social Justice Initiatives

Background:

• Growing number of university programs integrating social justice and community-based strategies.
• Global/local education aims to connect global health and campus engagement.
• Need for a conceptual framework to guide global/local educational program development.

Purpose of the Study:

• Discuss concepts underlying global/local education.
• Share existing global/local program models.
• Draft critical elements for effective global/local educational programs.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of discussions from a national meeting of 120 global health educators.
• Videorecordings of full-group discussions were utilized.
• Categorization of results into a preliminary list of program elements and synthesis of critical issues.

Main Results:

• A preliminary list of 7 essential program components for global/local education was developed.
• These components are considered crucial for categorizing a program as global/local.
• Identified critical elements ensure program effectiveness and didactic soundness.

Conclusions:

• Strong interest exists among global health educators in linking global and community-level learning.
• This linkage can unify global health and domestic public health fields.
• Future research should focus on program implementation and outcome evaluation.