MAPping the Future

The pandemic affected the health sector the most as health systems became overburdened with the requirements of patients needing care, even as the health workers themselves were also at risk from the disease. Many of the first casualties of the COVID-19 were those who attended to patients, especially in the first six months of its onset, exacerbating the already problematic staffing of health facilities around the world.

 

As the epidemic slowly transitions into endemic state, countries are now taking stock of their health human resource and the shortage is felt, especially the lack of nurses available to provide the needed care across diverse types of facilities in the health system. Their response is to intensify recruitment process from other countries to plug their gaps. As the Philippines is one of the major sources of health professionals globally, this is depleting the local health facilities of their staff and facing big challenges in their operation. More importantly, this will deprive Filipinos of health services they need.

 

While this problem may be partially addressed by the adoption of telehealth, technology and other digital applications, they can only go so far. In the end, there is a reason why the service is universally called health care – a recognition that ‘caring’ is integral to health, and that is one aspect that can never be replaced by technology, no matter how sophisticated they may be.

 

With all these coming to a head with the still persistent COVID and its variants, the way health services are delivered and accessed, and how they will be deployed and managed will have to be reconfigured. They also signal the need to look at the health systems with a new lens and identify opportunities for innovation long being called for to address the persistent imbalances in access, equity and quality. While international standards and health protocols will always be an integral part of the health processes, these should be viewed from regional, national and local perspectives on how these health services can be delivered, considering our unique conditions and using the resources that are available.

 

The health educational system will be called upon to play a pivotal role in bringing about these needed transformations and innovations to address the shortages in health human resource. The competencies and skill sets will need to match, adapt and respond to these new requirements and challenges. Failure to rise to this call of the times will compromise the stability of the health system, the cost to access services and the quality of care.

 

There are the long-standing challenges in health education that the pandemic magnified:

 

• how learning is provided, acquired, and assessed have been changed by the acceleration of digital and other technologies;
• the continuing rise in the cost of education that has become unaffordable to many students and their families; and
• how to retool and reskill the educators and the institutions into adapting to the changing demands of learning and education.

 

Shaping the education of the future health workforce will require that institutions address not only those challenges, but also to ensure that they become adept in using the technologies whose deployment and use the pandemic hastened. The learning environment will need to be restructured to fuse the virtual and the physical, without sacrificing the hands-on training that is critical when the responsibility is to save lives. They will have to be agile enough to turn the academe into learning hubs where skills and competencies are honed, and to use innovative applications and methodologies to deliver this. Needless to say, these have to be done – and fast to stem the staffing drain and put the health system back on track.

 

The Way Forward

 

It is a different world, and the way forward will require deeper structural transformations. Therefore, addressing these disruptions necessitate collaboration and synergy between the service providers (health facilities) and the learning providers (educational institutions).

 

1. Re-calibrate the training. The most pressing problem is bringing up to speed the students whose academic preparation might not be in line with the needed clinical training and experiences that the two years of pandemic transformed. To get them ready for actual work, there is a need for institutional transitions that will supplement and hasten the largely theoretical learning that the virtual system provided.

 

2. Innovate learning methodologies. Health education must evolve by introducing innovations in both instructions and clinical experiences provided to students and the pioneering spirit that can challenge status quo and tradition.

 

3. Optimize the hybrid system. Educational institutions should likewise establish pathways that will institutionalize the hybrid system – physical and digital – and how best to optimize both to achieve the quality of preparation that patient care requires. This is especially critical in the health care setting where the mantra is always getting it right the first time all the time because there are no do-overs when it comes to patients’ lives.

 

4. Make education accessible. Diversity, equity, and inclusion should be embedded into the academic DNA and institutions must work towards making education more affordable and accessible, especially to those students with potential but can ill-afford the cost. Exploring linkages with other institutions, private, non-governmental organizations, and the public sector within and outside the country, can be a fertile ground to enable this. After all, education should have no boundaries.

 

5. Prepare the global health workforce. Philippines is a recognized brand in health services. It has always been one of, if not the biggest source of nurses and doctors serving in the health systems of various countries. Both hospitals and educational institutions must join hands in preparing the future global health workforce, through solid academic preparation, systematic and hands-on training, and deployment that will provide experience in all facets of health care. This will ensure that our country’s needs are prioritized and first to benefit from their know-how, skills, and competent service. It will also render the local health system less vulnerable to brain drain, instead assuring that if and when they decide to explore the bigger responsibility to caring for patients offshore, there are readily available trained replacements that can assume their places.

 

This transformed health education system will take on the big responsibility of training the health professionals of the future who will be taking care of the people here and all over the world. The pace with which these systems will be made operational will be critical because sick patients do not have the time to wait.

 

(The author is the 2022 Vice Chair of the MAP Health Committee, Chair of the MAP CEO Conference Committee, President and CEO of Health Solutions Corporation, and former Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism. Feedback at <map@map.org.ph> and <alma.almadrj

And we continue to be a divided, confused people; have a widening gap between the rich and the poor; we struggle in addressing the problems in education; we are raising malnourished and stunted kids; we have difficulty in dealing with crime, drugs, illegal gambling, peace and order, not to mention a culture of violence; and, we ignore the needs of the poor and God’s other creations.

 

We need to rebuild our nation but that journey requires not only hope, love, perseverance and stamina – it needs, among others, a clear vision, a servant leadership mindset, a strong sense of country, a culture of good governance and responsible citizenship.

 

The Dream Philippines Project

 

In February of this year, the former Secretary of Finance, Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, convened almost 100 convenors, sectoral representatives and volunteers from many sectors of society to a convocation to craft a country roadmap for the future. It was called the Dream Philippines 2046 Project. The core purpose is the transformation of the Philippines and the comprehensive development of the Filipino, by the Filipino and for the Filipino. The hope is that the roadmap will help the country achieve higher productivity and competitiveness, higher and sustainable growth, and greater equity and inclusiveness. The strategic metrics are: to be top 20% in the world competitiveness index, 8-10% annual GDP growth and a GINI Coefficient of 30% or lower.

 

After 5 months of monthly meetings, the convenors produced the Country Governance Charter (statements of national values, mission and vision), the 8 strategic facets of nation-building, 28 strategic objectives in a strategy map, and the beginnings of a country performance scorecard of more than 140 initiatives and measures.

 

The Governance Charter for the Philippines

 

The proposed values for Dream Philippines are already in the law of the land (RA 8491) and are as follows (English definition, mine): Maka-Diyos (Love of God), Maka-Bansa (Love of Country), Maka-Tao (Respect for the dignity of the individual and Love for the Family), and Maka-kalikasan (Protection of God’s other creations).

 

For the Mission Statement, the convenors decided to adopt the Preamble of the current Constitution which states: “We, the Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, seek to build a just and humane society, establish a government that shall promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, secure the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law, and secure a regime of truth and justice, love and freedom, equality and peace.”

 

For the country vision, the convenors developed vision statements for the years 2028, 2034, 2040 and 2046, summarized as follows:

 

• Vision 2028 focuses on socio-economic recovery from the ravages of COVID 19 and the building of a solid platform for good governance and responsible citizenship.
• Vision 2034 emphasizes on climate or environmental justice.
• Vision 2040 is adapted from the government’s AmBisyon Natin 2040’s aspiration of the Filipino for his country.
• Vision 2046 expresses the Filipino’s aspiration for himself as defined in the AmBisyon 2040 vision statement.

 

The Country Strategy Map

 

In developing the strategy map for the country, the first step was to first identify the strategic facets for nation-building. There were eight facets identified; namely: Moral-Spiritual Facet, Socio-Cultural Facet, Political Facet, Human Resources Facet, Natural Resources Facet, Physical Facet, Technological-Digital Facet and Economic-Financial Facet.

 

The convenors were divided into 8 groups corresponding to the 8 strategic facets, with each group tasked to develop 3-5 strategic objectives. A total of 28 strategic objectives were developed and adopted in the plenary.

 

These strategic objectives can be summarized as follows: (1) A virtues-based society, (2) Deep spiritual, ethical and moral foundation, (3) Human rights, religious freedom and spirit of enterprise, (4) Deep sense of patriotism, (5) Strong family institution enjoying good quality of life, (6) Preservation of rich cultural heritage, (7) Strengthened, integrated and harmonized, political institutions, (8) Matured electoral process and civic consciousness, (9) Stable national peace and security, (10) Universal health care, (11) Continuing education for all, (12) Peaceful, safe and secure communities, (13) Promotion of STEM and dual vocational training with strong values components, (14) Protection, conservation and judicious development of marine resources, (15) Responsible development of mountain and mineral resources, (16) Greater attention to food security and sustainability, (17) Quality and efficient transport infrastructure, (18) Water adequacy and security, (19) Energy sufficiency and security, (20) Environmentally-sensitive waste management, (21) Access to technology for all, (22) Knowledge-driven, competitive digital ecosystem, (23) Global-standard ICT infrastructure, (24) Competitiveness and ease of doing business, (25) A production and maintenance mindset, (26) Strong economic fundamentals, (27) Development finance, esp. for MSMEs, and (28) Focused fiscal and monetary policies.

 

The Governance Charter and the Strategy Map composed of 8 strategic facets and 28 strategic objectives were completed in July 2022.

 

The Country Performance Scorecard

 

The Dream Philippines Project has a 5-person Steering Committee chaired by Dr. Estanislao. There is also an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) composed of 8 members, each of whom will be assigned one strategic facet to work on. Each of the EPG members will organize task forces to work on each of the 28 strategic objectives and fully develop the initiatives, measures, baselines and targets for 2028, 2034 , 2040 and 2046. Their outputs will be consolidated, integrated, and organized to produce the Country Performance Scorecard. Target completion date is June 2023.

 

Conclusion

 

We dream of a beautiful and prosperous Philippines – a country where there is enough for everyone, where no Filipino is left behind in poverty, where every Filipino family is healthy and enjoys a life of comfort, where every child has a future.

 

We dream of a country that can bring out the best in the Filipino people – one that can make the Filipino truly great and respected in the eyes of the world.

 

But for us to attain this Dream, we need an effective and efficient government that delivers, ethical and servant leaders who serve, sustainable businesses that share their prosperity, civil society or NGOs that manifest and promote the interests and will of the citizenry, and responsible citizens who get involved.

 

This is our Dream Philippines and today I sound the call to action – yes, we are warriors and advocates of good governance but more than this and more importantly, we are committed to build our Dream Philippines. And we pledge to keep these commitments while urging others to join us – however long it may take. Here in the Philippines. One Filipino at a time.

 

(The author is Co-Chair for Social/Shared Prosperity of the MAP Committee on ESG. He is also Vice Chair of Center for Excellence in Governance (CEG). Feedback at <map@map.org.org.ph> and <mon@acg.ph>.)