Abstract for: Global and Regional Health Partnerships: Improving the Linkages Between Global and Domestic Primary Health Care Policy Agendas

Governance issues are a major challenge to developing effective global health partnerships (GHPs) critical to advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While there are numerous applications of system dynamics (SD) to policy analysis, development, and health policy, there are relatively few examples of using SD to directly engage stakeholders to address these issues. This paper presents a case study of applying SD using group model building (GMB) to design a plan for a countrywide initiative to improve population health for the poorest 20% within a large multinational initiative. The paper describes the work in different phases starting with initial engagement and how the use of SD/GMB led to important shifts in mental models and changes in the planned investments to include neonatal mortality. Implications for GHPs and system dynamics practice are discussed.