New Initiative Brings Global Health to Local Activities

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 6, 2023) - A new pilot initiative from the School of Public Health enables students to apply global health expertise to local activities, in a method coined as “glocal”— short for “global to local”.

“The COVID-19 pandemic created challenges for how we expose students to experiential learning in global health,” explains John Justino, director of UAlbany’s Center for Global Health. “But right here in the Capital Region, we can expose our students to public health interventions that work with people from around the world and provide them with the opportunity to hone beneficial skills for careers in global health, regardless of the ability to travel abroad.”

The Pilot Glocal Initiative, led by the Center for Global Health in collaboration with the School of Public Health’s Office of Internships and Career Services, engages students in public health interventions in domestic settings, working with target audiences such as refugees, immigrants, and migrant workers from abroad. Initiatives that are often applied in global health work— such as vaccination programs and humanitarian assistance— can be applied within these communities, and the Glocal Initiative is developing programs, placing students in internships, and organizing activities to assist students who want to gain cultural competency and work with diverse populations.

In addition, the Center for Global Health is incorporating glocal health content into undergraduate and graduate courses, such as Introduction to Global Health taught by David Gittelman and Issues in Public Health taught by Justino. Special seminars for these courses, along with events from the Center for Global Health, include speakers who focus on glocal issues.

The Glocal Initiative pulls on models already in place at the School of Public Health, such as the internship program through the Office of Internships and Career Services, along with events, academic programs, and activities hosted by the Center for Global Health.

Two undergraduate students have interned at the West Hill Refugee Welcome Center through the initiative, and the development of a graduate internship in the Capital Region is underway.

“Our glocal interns are applying the public health principles they’re learning in the classroom to a multicultural setting and improving their cultural competency skills—right here in the Capital Region. They’re simultaneously learning about the local immigrant and refugee communities,” says Justino.

The Glocal Initiative will also be conducting a glocal service activity during National Public Health Week (April 3 – 9, 2023).

“I love that this new glocal initiative allows students to interact with and learn about another culture without traveling abroad, something I love but do not always have the resources to do. This initiative also highlights and celebrates the diversity that exists right here in the Capital Region,” says Maeve McCullouch, an MPH student and graduate assistant at the Center for Global Health who is helping to coordinate the glocal service day activity.

More information will be provided in the coming weeks for those who would like to participate in the glocal service activity.

Community partners who would like to learn more about getting involved with the School of Public Health’s Pilot Glocal Initiative are invited to reach out to Justino at [email protected] or (518) 402-0385.