Spearheading Consumer-Powered Health Care

Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, despite this growth the country still faces challenges in delivering quality and affordable health care to its population. To elevate the health system and improve the lives of Sam and Sara (archetypes of our consumers), PSI Ethiopia (PSI/E) has been working with partners like the Ministry of Health (MoH), Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs), private sector stakeholders, implementing partners and donors to deliver improved health outcomes over the past 18 years.

With over 250 staff dedicated to serving Ethiopian consumers in 11 regions of Ethiopia, PSI/E has become a valuable partner in building a movement around consumer-powered healthcare. We work to make it easier for Key Population groups to access quality HIV and TB treatment and prevention services, adolescent girls and young women to access quality sexual reproductive health services, and other vulnerable population to access quality water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions as well as screening and referral to non-communicable diseases ultimately improving the health outcomes. Across all its work, PSI/E aims to put care and control directly into consumers’ hands by leveraging human-centered design to collecting consumer and provider insight for program design.

Achieving universal health coverage calls for innovative and sustainable solutions to the world’s toughest health issues. Building on 50 years’ experience which marries a relentless focus on consumer and social behavior change with market development and systems thinking. Population Service International (PSI) has formulated a three-year operational plan that is underpinned by the rigorous application of deep public health expertise and commercial marketing practices and aims to scale Consumer Powered Healthcare (CPH) and build strong health systems in the private and public sectors.

We believe CPH offers a faster, more sustainable path toward Universal Health Coverage and is made possible by focusing on Key Pillars known as the 3 ‘S’, Shape, Shift and Strengthen.

1. Shaping mixed health systems by elevating consumer and market insights, facilitating integrated quality care networks, and digitizing engagement and health system coordination.

2. Shift policy and funding by maximizing sustainability through blended finance models, influence and operationalize policy reform toward CPH, and expanding the self-care movement.

3. Strengthen global capacity by growing diverse and innovative high-performance teams, foster and scale technical and operational excellence, and leverage diverse partnerships to scale the CPH agenda.

To create PSI/E three-year (2021–2023) operational plan based on global strategy, PSI/E formed three working groups that consisted of leadership members with diverse professional backgrounds. The team started broad looking at the market context to identify and prioritize key areas of opportunities and challenges. Having assessed the state of the market, the team picked key 5 priority areas that PSI/E is positioned to unlock for the next three years. The five priorities are Health Systems Strengthening, Fostering Self Care Movement, Human-Centered Design, Digitize Consumer Engagement & Health System, and Operational Excellence.

Market Context Assessment Findings

• Key trends affecting humanity (population growth, youth unemployment, migration, urbanization, etc.),

• The global economic crisis accelerated by Covid,

• Three policy agendas shaping global health (PHC, UHC, SDGs),

• The decline in development assistance for health.

• Growing emphasis on self-care, digital health, and the role of the private sector, and

• Shifting role of International NGOs from problem-response to systems thinking, innovation and learning.

“Consumer-powered healthcare is based on what consumers want and need. It is about understanding consumers as individuals and how to best serve them with personalized information. Ensuring they have a right to choose, to have access close to their homes and places of work, and access to high-quality health care that is also affordable?” Carolyn Brehm, PSI’s Board Chair

The next step for PSI/E is to align and operationalize the execution of these priorities in programs and operations. As we spearhead consumer-powered health care, we look forward to implementing this operational plan in collaboration with donors and partners.