Welcome to a Journey for HOPE!

After several tremendous years with Deloitte Consulting, I am taking a leave from work to pursue a four month “externship” with Project HOPE, working internationally in the field with local, national, and global leads to grow the organization’s current niche in chronic disease (now focused on diabetes). At the conclusion of this effort I will transition from being a student “in the field” to a student at UC Berkeley as a part of the integrated MBA/MPH program (through Fall 2012). Although, from what I hear of the Berkeley experience, I suppose some of my lessons in the field may serve me well during this transition!

About Project HOPE:
Founded in 1958, Project HOPE, Health Opportunities for People Everywhere, is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves.

Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship donated to the organization by President Eisenhower, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, as well as conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 35 countries.

This work includes educating health professionals and community health workers, strengthening health facilities, fighting diseases such as TB, HIV/AIDS and diabetes and providing humanitarian assistance through donated medicines, medical supplies and volunteer medical help. In addition, HOPE works to develop strong relationships with the local Ministers of Health (MOH) in every country it operates, acknowledging that collaborating with local leadership is essential to delivering a sustained impact for the long term. Health Affairs, the leading US journal of health policy thought and research, began and is still published today under the leadership of Project HOPE.

Learn about all the wonderful commitments HOPE has made to communities around the world!

www.projecthope.org

My Mission:
I will be working with Project HOPE over the next four months to identify a global chronic disease development strategy that builds on the organization’s current diabetes programs in Mexico, India, and China. While the majority of current global and public health programs focus on infectious diseases or women and children’s health, HOPE’s current work in diabetes is an innovative foothold that addresses a health need where prevalence (and subsequent economic burdens) are exponentially increasing globally, but especially in a number of developing communities.

With this in mind, the goal of this effort is to understand what the future of chronic disease care could look like for an organization like Project HOPE. What interventions are working in the existing diabetes programs? What are the gaps and opportunities for addressing unmet needs in the community? How do environmental and cultural factors impact behavior-change and health management across the continuum of care?

Join the Mission!
This blog documents the journey to identify the needs, best practices, and opportunities for chronic disease relief with the support of Project HOPE's leadership, global health and clinical experts, and patient communities across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. Of course, I will also include personal stories, perspectives, and experiences throughout my travels and lessons in the field. And as a disclaimer, I am still (and always will be) an engineer at heart so apologies ahead of time if my excitement around problem solving and/or logical structuring is coming through along the way!

I couldn’t be more excited to start working as a full-time HOPE volunteer next week. And to you, thank you for your support and joining me on the journey!