The WWHPS Approach: The Five Principles

The WWHPS mission is to create a truly self-sustaining improvement in the healthcare delivery system which not only endures, but evolves.   As such, the WWHPS approach is guided by five principles:

Understanding: Bringing longstanding change to a system as large and complicated as the health care delivery system requires an understanding of the culture, behavior, and attitudes of the patients and staff, the policies of local and national officials, and the condition of the physical structures.  Without proper understanding, even the best intentions will have unintended consequences.  We believe that a “bottom-up” approach is essential to gaining that understanding.

Replicability: We are not building a single model health center, but a vehicle for changing all health centers in the healthcare delivery system.

Comprehensiveness: The CCHIPs model is comprehensive along three dimensions:  1) it reaches downward to include the community health workers and upward to the referral system to the district hospitals.  2) it encompasses the entire health care spectrum including treatment, preventive care, and educational programs.  And 3)  it covers all aspects of health system management, including medical protocols and procedures; preventive care programs; management structure, processes, and reporting; and infrastructure improvements.

Collaboration: There are many stakeholders in the health care delivery system.  Health center staff, local government, and policymakers need to be partners in the work to embrace the changes as their own.  In addition, collaboration with NGOs provides the opportunity to share costs and insights.

Empowerment: Ultimately, the changes that we champion will be delivered by Rwandans, for Rwandans.  We are not giving people fish but rather teaching people how to fish. We believe we must empower people.