Kava Presence Challenges and Methods

Kava Presence

Challenges and Methods to Creating a Greater Presence in Kava for a Private Healthcare Organization

Expanding a healthcare organization in a foreign country is always a complex and difficult task; there are new laws and customs to learn, which provide very real barriers to physicians and health staff gaining access to the local population, not to mention earning the trust of this populations as patients. Attempts to provide Western medicinal techniques and diagnoses in many parts of the developing world are often met with cultural suspicion and skepticism, and in any multicultural situation the job of the healthcare provider necessarily becomes more complex as they must balance holding up the ideals and practices that make them a professional healthcare provider while at the same time providing the level and style of care that is both required and desired by the patient. But these are issues that are nearly universal to an expanding healthcare organization, varying only in degree from one situation to the next.

On Kava, there are several other issues at work that provide other substantial barriers and challenge to the spread of a healthcare organization and its provision of services to the local populous. The island itself is "a mess," as Nik notes early on, suggesting economic distress and a lack of infrastructure. These impressions are confirmed by Alex's comments concerning the likelihood of many different types of natural disasters, diseases, and the threat of terrorism from both within the island country and outside its borders. All of these issues has the potential to have a direct and profound impact on the development of a healthcare organization in the country in several ways, from simply preventing or discouraging staff to relocate or patients to seek care, to the physical disruption and/or destruction of organization buildings and other infrastructure projects.

In order to develop the proper problem formulation, it is essential first and foremost to define the advancements that the organization would like to achieve, and then identifying the barriers to the specific steps of those advancements (Trochim 2006; Ideation 2005). After this list of barriers -- which in this instance is certain to be somewhat lengthy -- has been compiled, the many interrelated problems facing the development of the healthcare organization must be simplified as much as possible, identifying the root of the organization's desire or goal that is being thwarted or obstructed by a given issue, and determining precisely how that issue is presenting a challenge to the specifically identified goal (Ideation 2005). A well-identified problem is the first step in finding an effective solution in an efficient manner; without such clarity of definition any solution is likely to be not only less effective, but might not even adequately address the issues that lies at the true root of the problem (Trochim 2006; Ideation 2005).

One of the main issues healthcare organizations face in any rural or undeveloped area, and especially in developing nations, is providing access to care in a physically practical proximity to the population in need (UFS 2009). Obviously, this is a concern both for patients and the organization; the former must be provided with care, especially in matters of urgency, while the latter has no function to perform if it cannot reach the patient. To address this issue in Kava, the target populations and their locations must be identified, existing infrastructure (roads, as well as plumbing and electricity for a new building) should be examined, and the various effect of floods, hurricanes, fires, etc. On this infrastructure -- as well as the likelihood/regularity of these events -- should be assessed in order to allow the organization to mitigate costs and damages while still providing access to care.