AMCHP defines “global health” as seeking to achieve equity in all that we do, in a way that promotes the well-being of every individual worldwide. In recognizing the inherent value in learning from global health insights and perspectives to address potential gaps in the maternal and child health (MCH) evidence base, AMCHP launched its Global Health Initiative in 2020.
Through this initiative, AMCHP is committed to identifying and sharing culturally appropriate best practices, bright spots, and insights from the global community with Title V and its partners and aims to value and uplift community expertise and cultural diversity in public health practice as well as create a space for collaborative, transnational learning in MCH. AMCHP does this through three main activities: identifying and adding global MCH practices in the MCH Innovations Database, the Sharing Global Approaches, Creating Local Outcomes: MCH Global Health Webinar Series, and the case studies series.
This work is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U01MC00001 Partnership for State Title V MCH Leadership Community Cooperative Agreement ($1,617,500).
Current Initiatives
- Global Health Workgroup
- Global Health Webinar Series
- Expanding Innovation Hub to include Global Practices
- Building Partnerships
- AMCHP 2020 Conference
AMCHP defines “global health” as seeking to achieve equity in all that we do, in a way that promotes the well-being of every individual worldwide. In recognizing the inherent value in learning from global health insights and perspectives, AMCHP launched its Global Health Workgroup in 2020. The workgroup is composed of MCH professionals from a variety of different organizations who share our commitment to amplifying and learning from work happening around the globe. The workgroup focuses on three main activities: identifying and adding global MCH practices in the MCH Innovations Database, the Sharing Global Approaches, Creating Local Outcomes: MCH Global Health Webinar Series, and the case studies series. As a part of this initiative, AMCHP is committed to identifying and sharing culturally appropriate best practices, bright spots, and insights from the global community with Title V and its partners and aims to value and uplift community expertise and cultural diversity in public health practice as well as create a space for collaborative, transnational learning in maternal and child health.
Interested in joining the Global Health Workgroup? Email us at evidence@amchp.org!
The Global Health Committee is excited to present a webinar series, Sharing Global Approaches, Creating Local Outcomes, in order to bring public attention to global MCH issues and the advocates working to solve them. The series also aims to connect Title V leaders to global leaders in order to engage in collaborative learning. This webinar series will be accompanied with presentations, recordings, and case studies/written articles to further disseminate the topics and knowledge shared within the webinar.
- Webinar 1: Earning Trust, Building Vaccine Confidence
- Webinar 2: The Intersection of MCH & Climate Change, November 18th
- Webinar 3: TBD
- Webinar 4: TBD
AMCHP is working with the Global Health Workgroup to broaden the MCH Innovations Database to include MCH practices and policies from around the globe (with an emphasis on those coming from tribal communities, the U.S. jurisdictions, and those nations in the Global South) that can be applied to a domestic MCH context. The workgroup is in the process of solidifying a series of questions and criteria to assess the fit of potential practices and policies with the database and is planning to pilot this submission process with global practices that have already been replicated within the U.S. in spring/summer of 2022.
AMCHP works closely with partners across a variety of organizations in its global health work. We partner closely with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions program which strives to learn from abroad to improve health and well-being in the United States. Their webinar series “Reimagined in America: What Can the World Teach Us about Building a Culture of Health?” explores how other countries have improved health and well-being, and hear how leaders and communities across the countries are turning promising practices and policies from overseas into practical solutions for the United States. The RWJF serves as thought partners in our global health as they are leaders in this space.
Interested in partnering with us? Let us know by emailing us at evidence@amchp.org.
AMCHP 2021 Conference theme “Global Meets Local: A Global Approach for Local Outcomes” centered on the reality of our global connectedness as we all experience a pandemic that continues to tragically take the lives of thousands and challenge our ideas of “normal”. AMCHP’s Global Health Workgroup took the opportunity to host a film screening and discussion session with the hopes of sharing international health issues that might resonate with our Title V audience and help them identify parallels to their own work. The film, The Revolutionary Optimists, displays themes of radical change through the eyes of school children in Kolkata, India as they become lead activists in their society through a community organization called Prayasam. While advocating for the wellbeing of their community, they battle prejudice from older generations, unequal gender norms, inefficient resources, and illness. As they are led by a determined community organizer (Amlan Ganguly, the director of Prayasam) who believes in the power of children as change agents, the students soon find their voice. Our members watched the realities of making change in a challenging environment and discussed what it means to be optimists while challenging the status quo.
Building Trust, Earning Vaccine Confidence: Lessons Learned from Global and Local Initiatives
As we have seen time and time again throughout this pandemic, vaccine hesitancy is an ever-evolving concern. Just when vaccination numbers are on the rise, an event like the recent temporary pause of the Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine can shake people’s confidence and trust. Given this, it is critical that public health professionals understand the roots of vaccine hesitancy and their role in building vaccine trust. To explore this topic, AMCHP’s Global Health Initiative held a webinar on April 16th, 2021 titled “Earning Trust, Building Vaccine Confidence: Lessons Learned from Global and Local Initiatives” which featured presentations from Dr. Bruce Gellin, President of Global Immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute; Cecelia Thomas, Senior Government Relations Manager at Trust for America’s Health; and Dr. Anne Zink, Chief Medical Officer of the State of Alaska. The webinar explored successful global and local efforts at building vaccine confidence, looked deeply at vaccine hesitancy’s history and relationship with access, and explained the importance of meaningful partnerships and power sharing to build trust. Read More
What Global Health Means to AMCHP
This brief video highlights AMCHP's definition of global health and why it matters. Read More
Blue Marble Thinking: How Global Perspectives Can Help Address Local Challenges
Faced with high expectations to demonstrate outcomes for MCH populations in the midst of increasingly constrained resources, never has there been a greater need to change our thinking and the way we do our work. “Blue marble thinking”, or inspiration from abroad, may be exactly what is needed. This session features representatives from NACCHO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Youth Empowerment Project, and the University of Maryland who share highlights from initiatives adapting effective global strategies to address domestic MCH challenges at the city, county, and community level. Read More
Leading State Maternal and Child Health Programs: A Guide for Senior Managers
This guide is designed to help senior managers (i.e., those in their agencies responsible for the oversight and management of all or part of the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant) succeed at their jobs. Titles, duties, and scopes of responsibility for family health related federal and state programs vary between agencies and states, but this guide was written to be adaptable to your situation regardless of your specific position title or responsibilities. It also is useful whether you are from a state where you are the only staff member or from a state having a large number of staff devoted to block grant programs. AMCHP framed the guide around the major leadership concepts of vision, change and relationships as well as current management concepts including planning. Read More
