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I’m sitting in my hotel room in Washington DC as I write this post, and my brain is fried. Fried in a good way because I got to geek out on development all day long with people who are passionate about global health.
I had a very full, wonderful day with PSI at their headquarters. As I explained last week, I won a trip to the nation’s capital in order to learn more about PSI’s work in global health.
PSI’s mission is to make it “easier for people in the developing world to lead healthier lives and plan the families they desire by marketing affordable products and services.” They strive for pragmatism and have a strong focus on research and measurement.
Though PSI is well known in the development world, they are not an NGO that has a lot of name recognition with the general population. With a heavy focus on family planning, they have programs targeting malaria, child survival, HIV, reproductive health and non-communicable disease. They are probably most known for their work in contraception. Condoms, in particular. One of the presentations I experienced, called “Making Condoms Cool”, included a presentation of some of the condoms and marketing materials used to get high risk youth and adults to use contraception.
But PSI is much more than condoms and contraception. I also heard of how they are empowering youth to host radio shows that allow them to talk about sex while getting a public health message out in the discussion. They are working with health care workers to be more youth-friendly in order to help address their needs and not be judgmental of their actions. Social marketing campaigns are encouraging mothers in Pakistan to breast feed in the first hour to get the health benefits of colostrum.
Throughout the day, I received a pretty good overview of the state of global health and development in general. There was a lot of talk about the need for partnerships moving forward. To tackle the world’s problems and to get the funding to do so is going to require those in the private and public sector to work together.
I also had the opportunity to visit the USAID office for a presentation on PSI’s family planning programs in Madagascar (funded by USAID). There was talk about social franchising which works by “creating a network of health care providers that are contractually obligated to deliver specified services in accordance with franchise standards under a common brand.” This innovative approach helps address health problems more holistically and less vertically.
I had also had the opportunity to have a coffee with PSI’s President & CEO, Karl Hofmann. It was great to be able to just sit and have a discussion about development, PSI and life in general. My day ended with some potty talk around how PSI was addressing sanitation in Bihar, India.
Overall, I was impressed by PSI’s approach to global health using a marketing perspective. They are big on research, finding the right markets and measuring results. There was a lot of talk about keeping Sara healthy. Sara being the person they serve.
I learned a lot in my full day with PSI, and I hope this won’t be my last time visiting with them. As they told me from the beginning, their story is fascinating, but it’s a long and complicated one to tell.
I honestly didn’t now much about them at all until hearing about them from you. But does truly sound like they do a great job at getting their message out and thank you so much for sharing more about your trip and meeting with them here today now 🙂
My pleasure, Janine. I’m sure I’ll be talking more about PSI in the future!
Thanks for all your hard work! I had never heard of PSI.
It was quite a day. I didn’t know much about PSI before my trip. I do now. It’s a great organization.
I also hadn’t heard of PSI before, but it sounds like they are doing some great things. I am impressed with the variety of projects they are tackling and working with the local populations to help get messages across that are culturally-appropriate (at least that is the sense I am getting from reading your post!). Thanks again for sharing information on such a worthy cause!
They work in over 60 countries and pay a lot of attention to the types of messages they put out. You are right that culture comes into play. I was impressed by their approach to marketing.
Even after a long day of work, you still look adorable!
I am so glad you’ve shared your knowledge of PSI with us. I didn’t know anything about them before your introduction. Their organization sounds AMAZING. I love an organization that is pragmatic and takes the time to measure their outcomes and make adjustments as necessary. Thank you so much for traveling and spending so much of your time shedding light on this group and the important work they do. –Lisa
It was a short trip, but I learned so much! I hope to work with PSI again in the future. I’m sure you’ll hear more about them from me, Lisa.
I know for certain that it was by no accident that you were chosen to go on this amazing trip to learn of PSI. Win? No, chosen. You know what I mean!!
You look so adorable, professional and I am always amazed at your presence that truly shines strength in character, integrity, and purpose.
I can’t believe you can write such an incredible overview of your stay and share such a wealth of information about this organization after such a long day! You continue to inspire.. as you take each step to help change the world and make a difference.
I knew NOTHING about PSI before you went. And now? I am a believer in their mission in so many cultures all over the world. I love that they are serving in places that have such a need for guidance, information and help in health and reproductive issues. It sure seems they are reaching these people and helping the global health of the world with their many programs, productively and effectively. I am so impressed with all they do!
I do know what you mean, Chris. And I agree. 🙂
I so love your thoughtful comments. I wrote this post late at night after a long day, but I just had to get it out. You know how that is, right?
I’m sure you’ll hear more about PSI from me in the future. They do such great work!
Always thankful for your comments (and your friendship), Chris!
I didn’t PSI until here but I enjoyed watching your small plane adventures there and back!
Making condoms cool is interesting! I am always afraid of sounding… as liberal as I really am.. but I do love the wide range of work they are doing. I approve wholeheartedly. And I just love Chris’ message above! She’s just the best.
Chris is the best. And so are you, Tamara! You should have seen the PSI office. There were condoms everywhere! I saw some of their ads from other countries as well. Very interesting indeed! And effective, which is what counts.
I had never heard of this organization before, but I loved hearing about what they are doing. The global health issue is an important one…it’s nice to hear that there is an organization focused on it. I’m with Chris…there is a reason you were there. 🙂
There was definitely a reason, Michelle. I had an amazing day and I’m looking forward to working with PSI more in the future.
I’d never heard of PSI before your posts, but they sound like a great organization. I really appreciate their stance that family planning and reproductive health products are only useful if people actually use them—makes total sense, of course, but not too many organizations make their main focus the marketing aspect of it. The social franchising effort sounds really interesting too!
I had never heard of social franchising. It’s really intriguing and seems like a really sensible model because they are trying to treat as much as they can when they see people in these clinics (vs. just offering vaccinations or treating one problem). I think the term family planning often gets a bad wrap. PSI helps to educate and empower so that people can make the right decisions and stay healthy. Really interesting stuff.