Trust and Technology: Synchronizing Health, ICT, and Community-Based Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, to Turn a Third Rail Into a Holy Grail
Teresa Henkle-Langness
Proceedings of the 26th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2022, Vol. II, pp. 50-55 (2022); https://doi.org/10.54808/WMSCI2022.02.50
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The 26th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2022
Virtual Conference July 12 - 15, 2022 Proceedings of WMSCI 2022 ISSN: 2771-0947 (Print) ISBN (Volume II): 978-1-950492-65-7 (Print) |
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Abstract
Current sociological trends point to an increasing need for a systems-based approach to public health—one that harmonizes the role of providers with that of community health advocates who can assist with outreach and engender public trust in the effort to promote disease prevention, treatment, and global wellbeing. This paper evaluates the potential role of visionary community schools as trust builders, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Surely scientific research has wrought vaccines, treatments and preventions that seem the holy grail of health systems. However, in some regions, institutional research has at times become more of a third rail, a dangerous idea that actually thwarts public cooperation. [1] The distance between third rail and holy grail lies in a community’s level of trust for science, for specific technological interventions, and for institutions. This paper posits that deputizing students as the envoys of trust not only lends purpose to global learning but also triggers attitudinal shifts in the population, based on 2021 case studies at schools practicing the Full-Circle Learning (FCL) model of education. As schools in the developing world purposefully use communications technologies to exchange information, the health benefits echo across borders, becoming increasingly scalable. |
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