Content Resources

During the main GMHC conference 2015 PRIME International's CEO, Prof Richard Vincent, presented this breakout session on ‘Compassion: Foundation for Whole Person Care’.Scientific and technical advances may be seen as the key to best medical practice, but to focus only on biological processes is to ignore other powerful influences on the causes and treatment of illness. A solely mechanistic approach fails to deal with the basic requirement of patients to be cared for as people - in body, mind and spirit. This session explored the topic of whole person care including its biblical basis, evidence for its benefit and its delivery to patients founded on compassion.

A monthly international email to encourage healthcare professionals in their efforts to practise and teach healthcare which truely cares for the whole person.The International Email highlights research relevant to whole person healthcare, gives real life examples of how considering the whole patient, body - mind - spirit, can and does influence health care outcomes and help healthcare professionals provide better care by recognising the needs of their patients.

Developing Mental Health is a free resource designed and prepared for all health care professionals who have an interest in and concern for mental health care – psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, general physicians, mental health nurses, general nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, dieticians, community health workers, social workers, administrators, chaplains and interested faith and community leaders.

While weaving into his presentation personal experiences from both his time serving in Liberia and his own experience with Ebola, Dr. Sacra will discuss ways in which the response to the Ebola crisis sometimes has unintended consequences. We’ve observed cultural clashes sometimes leading to violence, both in cities and in rural areas, as well as impacts on the health system as a whole. Some key interventions carried out by the Government and NGOs have served to disempower communities rather than empowering them. We’ll review lessons learned from these first 6 months in battling Ebola.

Experience is showing that equipping women to deal with family and community concerns without involving husbands is like teaching women to clap with one hand.Community Health Evangelism equips communities through Christ-centered health and development. Thousands of highly participatory lessons empower less skilled trainers respond to most community interests and spiritual needs. New lessons deal with being a good husband and father, understanding how men’s leadership and leadership styles affects others, how to truly love your wife, how to earn your children’s respect, and men’s health issues.

It's estimated that more than 4 Billion people in the world are oral learners. They can't, don't or won't read. Regardless of the reasons or situation, oral communication methods and participatory/discovery learning processes are important tools in most of the world. In this session we'll look at case studies and experiences helping friends in North India create mother-tongue audio recordings of community development/health information and also Scripture stories. The session will give you a taste of how to use stories/arts to transfer information more effectively in oral cultures.

Community Health Evangelism (CHE) is a breakthrough mission strategy that seamlessly integrates evangelism and discipleship with disease prevention and community-based development. Through these ministries people become followers of Jesus, churches are planted, and entire communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease.

The power of story for the medical missionary God called us, we listened, and we took small steps toward obedience. Then when the Ebola tragedy struck, we knew God would be faithful and use it for His glory. Followed by Q&A time.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is staggering and unimaginable in terms of magnitude of cases and overall mortality. Corporately, the international humanitarian community could not have anticipated the extent of this unparalleled outbreak, and coordinated global efforts have been significantly outpaced by exponential growth of this deadly disease. Traditional treatment methods of patient isolation and clinical management within Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) can no longer serve as the exclusive means of patient care. The staggering numbers of patients and inadequate numbers of qualified health care personnel have mandated a vastly unique three tiered “community-based” approach. Please join Dr. Lance Plyler as he reviews and explores the evolution from traditional clinical management to novel approaches of patient care rendered via community care centers and home based efforts.

Ebola has emerged as an extremely complex epidemic that has not only revealed a plethora of underlying problems in the affected countries, but calls for a complex and multi-faceted approach to address it. Adequate and appropriate treatment of Ebola is one aspect of the solution, but a solid public health response is essential to the cessation of this epidemic as well. In addition to the health-related measures that are required, understanding and addressing the cultural factors of the region plays a huge role in stopping the spread of the virus. Additionally, there is the monumental task of spiritual and psychosocial care which is needed, and to which the Church can and must respond. Come and learn more about the various roles available for those who want to engage this crisis from a non-clinical standpoint.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak has already killed more than 4000 people, and the end is not clearly in sight. During this session, we will put Ebola into context of other health problems in Africa and then review the presentations, diagnosis, management, and prevention of this devastating illness. We will also explore ways that we can get involved in battling Ebola, whether near to or far from West Africa.

The Next Generation of students, just like each generation before it, is different and is engaging the world in a new way. In order to effectively attract and retain these students, the church will have to adjust as well. Students no longer want to be a part of a church where they sit, listen and give an offering each week—students of this generation want to know where their money is going and to be a part of the movement. They want to engage in the mission of God in a tangible and real way. Because the entire world is available to them more than ever before, they want to be involved both locally and globally.