To meet evolving needs, health professions education must embrace globally recognized socially accountable approaches. THEnet and its partners lead this effort by collaborating with health sectors, policymakers, and communities to drive meaningful education and health system reform.
Rooted in a strong Theory of Change the THEnet’s Social Accountibility Framework emphasizes continuous needs assessments, stakeholder collaboration, and regular evaluation to keep health programs effective and responsive.
Below is a step-by-step guide for evaluating the impact of institutional and educational strategies on your graduates, and the communities and health system your institution or program serves.
Submit an ethics application to your ethics boards.
Conduct a workshop for the stakeholders of your school to familiarize them with the SA Framework and find out where you can locate some of the information.
Use the information from the workshop to start collecting data through document review, and focus groups and interviews.
Review and analyze data and determine strengths, weaknesses and gaps
Synthesize, organize and write up results of the evaluation and identify opportunities for improvement and additional research.
Share the report and results with others through presentation, publications and with THEnet so that we can learn from you.
An introductory workshop is recommended as the first step at each school as an awareness-raising exercise and to introduce the term social accountability to the school community.
Focus Groups / Interviews – A ‘How To’ Guide and List of Questions
Original developers of the Framework (version 1.0 published February, 2012):
Sarah Larkins, Iris Lindemann, Marie Matte, Jose Alvin P Mojica, André-Jacques Neusy, Björg Pálsdóttir, Robyn Preston, Rex Samson, Simone Ross, David Buso, Filedito Tandinco, and Afdal Kunting
Other contributors to the development of the Framework (version 1.0):
Charles Boelen, Kate Brennan, Juan Carrizo, Pasqualito Concepcion, Fortunato L. Cristobal, Aaron, Goldstein, Jenenne Greenhill, Dan Hunt, Jehu Iputo, Joel Lanphear, David Marsh, Khaya Mfenyana, Ileana del Rosario Morales Suárez, Richard Murray, David Prideaux, Jusie Lydia Siega-Sur, Roger Strasser, Sarah Strasser, Paul Worley, and Zorayda Leopando
Developers of version 2 of the Framework online (Version 2.0 published June, 2014):
Simone Ross, Sarah Larkins, Björg Pálsdóttir, Robyn Preston, Kristien Michielsen, Torres Woolley, and André-Jacques Neusy
Further acknowledgements:
The Framework and this resource was funded by the generous support of the Atlantic Charitable Trust. THEnet would also like to thank the Arcadia Foundation for their generous support. We are indebted to Charles Boelen and Robert Woollard who developed the Conceptualisation– Production–Usability Model that THEnet used as a basis for the development of the Framework.
Charlie Labarda, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM-SHS), where he has taught for more than a decade. He is a regular member of the National research Council of the Philippines, belonging to the Medical Sciences Division (Division III). Before joining the medical faculty at UPM-SHS he trained in at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital. He finished his PhD in the Department of Psychology at The University of Hong Kong, his Master in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management (high honors), Doctor of Medicine (cum laude) at the Our Lady of Fatima University-College of Medicine, and his undergraduate Social Sciences studies (cum laude) at UP Tacloban College. He was a topnotcher in the Physician Licensure Examination (8th place).
He served as the Unit Faculty Representative to the All UP Academic Employees Union-Manila Chapter. He is also part of the UPM-SHS core faculty for the Leadership and Development Program (LDP) capacitating local chief executives (governors and mayors) in strengthening their health systems to achieve the goals of universal health care and sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the Philippine government. He also volunteers as civil society partner of DSWD in its 4Ps Program as Vice-Chairperson for the National Independent Monitoring Committee (NIMC). He also helps in various DOH and WHO projects in line with his advocacies around medical education, health equity, disaster public health, resilient and healthy communities, and mental health especially in low resource settings. Recently he became part of the Data Science for Public Policy Working Group based at the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP-CIDS), promoting the use of data science for public policy.
Dr. Dharamsi currently serves as the Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. With 25 years of experience, he brings an interdisciplinary background and extensive international and community development experience as an educator, scholar, and administrator.
Dr. Dharamsi’s academic journey began in Canada, where he earned an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and achieved tenure in the Department of Family Medicine. He also co-directed the UBC Center for International Health.
His work is at the intersection of public health, medical humanities, global health, ethics, and the social determinants of health.
Born in Tanzania, Dr. Dharamsi is a first-generation high school and college graduate. He is deeply committed to student success. He began his career as an inner-city schoolteacher.
His career includes leadership roles as regional director for early childhood development and poverty alleviation in East Africa with the Aga Khan Development Network, founding associate dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso, and senior advisor to the provost at New Mexico State University.
Dedicated to advancing public health, Dr. Dharamsi actively serves on the boards of several national and international organizations, including the ASPPH Global Engagement and Partnerships Advisory Committee.
SA Framework Management Plan
The SA Framework Project Management Plan has been created to help established schools to work through the process of using the Framework. As the Framework is designed to be used in a number of ways, please adapt this plan to your own setting.
Generic Ethics Application
A Generic Ethics Application has been created for you to use prior to starting work with the Framework at your school. As ethics requirements are often different between schools, the template can be adjusted to your own school.