OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS,
AND INTO THE NEXT 50 FORWARD,
PSI is reimagining how we can support consumers as active participants in a health system responsive to their needs. But what does that look like in practice?
In their #NotWithoutFP welcome letters, Seun Taylor, a Young Designer for PSI’s A360, and Jennifer Pope, PSI’s VP for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV, share where we – the public health community, governments and consumers, together – can go when #SheLeads the way.
Togther, We Respond.
By Jennifer Pope, VP SRH and HIV, PSI
Across PSI, Young Designers like Seun continue to show us that the best solutions for consumers are derived with consumers. When consumers don’t have a say in their health and life choices, we lack the insights to address the barriers that too often hinder them from accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.
To increase SRH access and choice – and to support consumers in harnessing their own agency – consumer voices must lead the way.
When #SheLeads by telling us what she wants, together, we, the global health community, consumers and governments and stakeholders, can create linkages to support systems that respond to her holistic needs. Nowhere has that been clearer than over the past year, as we’ve urgently and creatively pivoted in response to COVID-19.
Ensuring health consumers’ quality of care has always been paramount to PSI’s consumer-powered approach to healthcare; on the heels of the pandemic, we’ve continued innovating by tapping into digital solutions and expanding self-care interventions to ensure continuity of services that put power and choice into consumers’ hands; we, alongside partners, have built out a Quality-of-Care Framework for Self-Care to help health systems monitor and support consumers in accessing health care on their own. Where and when applicable, we’ve moved provider trainings and support online, ensuring consumer safety and satisfaction within and beyond the clinic walls. .
We’ve done this all with consumer voices at the fore. Such as:
- #SheLeads by telling us that challenges—like long-wait times, high transportation costs and fear of COVID-19—limit her ability to show up in-person at a facility. Together, we respond with self-care interventions and digital innovations that put choice and agency into the palm of her hands and create stronger linkages to the health system.
- #SheLeads by telling us that “contraception” is not relevant and that “family planning” misses the mark for the young girls and women not yet ready to have children. Together, we respond by starting the contraceptive conversation with her goals for her life, supporting her to see contraception as a tool in service of her dreams.
- #SheLeads by telling us that judgmental providers deter her from coming to the clinic. Together, we respond by building health providers’ capacity and confidence to ensure her quality of care and positive experience. We build in feedback mechanisms to real-time track and respond to her experience and needs.
A consumer-powered model to healthcare is needed to support health systems to accelerate toward global goals such as SDG 3 and Universal Health Coverage, all while adapting, including to local contexts, to ensure continued SRH access amidst COVID-19.
But don’t take it from me. Listen to and learn from trailblazers like Seun Taylor who are leading the way. Her insights – in addition to the perspectives of hundreds of young designers across our country programs – have set the foundation for how we make space for her to lead, and us together to respond.
On behalf of PSI, we look forward to engaging with you at #NotWithoutFP. Learn more about where PSI will be during the conference. Then, join in on the conversation by telling us how her insights guide your collective work by searching and posting the hashtag #SheLeads on Twitter.
Hear how #SheLeads.
In Part 1, Seun Taylor, an A360 Young Designer from SFH Nigeria, shares how her voice has helped to catalyze innovation, inspiration and impact across PSI’s adolescent contraceptive programs.
