MHA Students Compete in the University of Iowa College of Public Health Global Case Competition

By: Madeline Cornell (MHA '20)

Hi Everyone! 

This past week, I participated in the 2019 College of Public Health Global Health Case Competition. In addition to participating alongside Kelsie Ferstl (MHA '20), Dylan Lloyd (a pharmacy student) and Allie Zimmerman (an undergraduate Human Physiology student) comprised the team.

Our case focused on mental health in Lagos, Nigeria. Specifically, we were told the story of a young woman who was experiencing immense grief and depression following the death of her sister. This young woman was also a recent mother and her son was afflicted with multiple water-borne illnesses (cholera). Her family was unhappy with her for staying inside all day and not having the energy to get up and work, and they often told her she was possessed by evil spirits. 

Our approach to addressing issues surrounding mental health in Lagos was to first address basic needs. Considering access to safe water, healthy food, vaccinations, and medicine is limited in the water slum that is Lagos, providing community members with these necessities was our first priority. Often, lack of needs leads to extreme stress and worry – we wanted to eradicate this for everyone in the community, especially young mothers and children. We then used a logic model to outline our particular intervention strategies, resources needed, partnerships we would need to create, and outcomes we hoped to achieve. Our hope was with the eradication of certain stressors, we could focus on later teaching well-known community members about mental health so they could positively influence their residents and disseminate information downward. 

Overall, participating in this case competition was very insightful and made me more aware of global health disparities. As a future administrator, it is crucial to understand the role of public health in our industry and it is also critical to understand how to formulate interventions and solutions. 

Working on an interdisciplinary team allowed us all to improve our individual and unique skills, as well as learn from one another. Kelsie and I had practice with public speaking, time management, financial forecasting, creating short-term and long-term solutions, and critical thinking.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, please feel free to reach out!