Creating Systems of Care: Integrated Health Delivery Programs and the Work of PATH

Abstract

In 'Creating Systems of Care', I critique vertical and horizontal health deliver systems using a framework of relational poverty knowledge and care ethics. This paper looks critically at PATH’s Andhra Pradesh Immunization Initiative (APII) as an example of a successful melding of vertical and horizontal systems into an integrated approach to providing care. I begin with a discussion of care ethics and the evolution of a feminist ethic of care. From there, I contextualize the work of PATH through an analysis of the dominant discourses on Neoliberalism; the geography of development; the concept of care as the work of social justice; and a discussion of the evolution of global health delivery strategies. From there, I delve into an analysis of PATH’s APII as an example of a successful integrated health delivery program.