From Aid to Accompaniment: Engaging the

Model
Ariel Arguelles
Giuliana Carozza
Matt Hing
Darlene Kim
Thomas Rieth
Ava Stachelski
12/07/2014

Table of Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.

Introduction .p. 2
Opportunity & Context.p.2-3
Objectives.p.3-4
Training Curriculum Description.p.4-8
Comparative Analyses..p.8-10
Further Steps & Recommendations..p.10-11
Conclusionp.12
Appendix...p.13-39

I.

Introduction
This Development Advisory Team (DAT), consisting of Ariel Arguelles, Giuliana

Carozza, Matt Hing, Darlene Kim, Thomas Rieth, and Ava Stachelski, served as a consultant
group for Partners in Health (PIH) from September to December in the fall of 2014. Cynthia
Maltbie, PIHs Chief Human Resources Officer, served as the DATs contact in PIH and was
integral to our work, providing valuable feedback and ideas that contributed greatly to the
projects development. The DAT was tasked with advising PIH on how to better communicate
the theory of accompaniment to its employees across a variety of contexts. This report details the
initial opportunity presented by PIH, the tangible training materials this DAT produced, a series
of case studies of other organizations with programs and methods relevant to the needs of PIH,
and a series of recommendations for next steps. This team drew heavily from the work of a prior
DAT in the Spring of 2013, and hopes that subsequent DAT teams working with PIH will
continue to build on this teams work for future efforts.

II.

Opportunity & Context

One of PIHs principal ideas is the approach to service, partnership, and engagement

through accompaniment. Accompaniment is the act of walking alongside a partner in their

suffering, accompanying them throughout their sickness through encouragement, active
listening and empowerment. As a result of walking in solidarity with the patient, the method of
patient care is changed from an outsider to insider dynamic to a community-based model.
However, the idea of accompaniment is not limited to patient care and can apply to interactions
between co-workers, administrators, and anyone else involved with the organization. Although
many PIH employees have heard of accompaniment, many would struggle to define it or

describe what it looks like in practice. Therefore, PIH wishes to identify the key principles in
teaching the theory of accompaniment and to organize these principles into a teachable
framework. In developing this training program, Partners in Health also seeks to promote
awareness of the theory of accompaniment to a wider scale through continued conversation and
education. One method of accomplishing this is to model a new training program after the
examples and experiences of organizations that already demonstrate exceptional training
programs in relaying key organizational concepts.
Additionally, PIH has recently become involved in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa,
hiring over one thousand new clinical and other professional volunteers to assist in efforts in
Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. All of these employees need to be trained in PIH principles
and methodology before deployment, particularly accompaniment, creating a large need for a
systematic training program. Furthermore, since all of these employees will be required to
present on their experiences to their local hospitals or organizations back in the United States,
PIH has a unique opportunity to spread awareness of its work and its theory of change to a much
larger audience. Therefore, it is critical to address and involve this subset of PIH employees in
the DAT project.
Lastly, PIH has also expressed its desire to foster leadership skills in its employees. In
the past, there have been difficulties creating leadership trainings that resonate with employees,
and our DAT team sees this as an opportunity to address both gaps by integrating leadership with
accompaniment.
III.

Objectives
The principal objective of our DAT team is to create an operational, accessible

curriculum that increases understanding of the theory of accompaniment to all PIH employees

across contexts. We will be creating this curriculum by analyzing successful existing training
models, and applying the tools used in their training programs to teach accompaniment. Along
with accompaniment, leadership is a concept that will be emphasized in our training.
Accompaniment and leadership share many of the same qualities, and leadership skills are
valuable tools for applying accompaniment. Our curriculum will consist of several modules
which are tailored to three specific groups of people within Partners in Health. There are
modules for PIH interns and new PIH employees, who will receive a more formal training.
There are also training modules for PIH staff members, who we understand are very busy and
hesitant to take on an extensive new initiative. To account for this, these modules will involve
more experiential training. Lastly, we have training modules for the doctors going to West
Africa to treat Ebola patients. This training is tailored to their experience in West Africa and
how they can apply what they have learned to help teach others.

IV.

Training Curriculum Descriptions

A.

Formal Training
Our formal training curriculum is a modular system that primarily targets full-time

employees and summer interns. We have designed three flexible modules: Understanding
Accompaniment, Getting Personal with Accompaniment, and Practicing Accompaniment.
Though they would ideally occur in this order over a period of three weeks, they can also be
utilized non-sequentially according to need in order to better accommodate for busy schedules.
With these modules, we hope to increase understanding and engagement in all employees. We
used modular organization to break down the content into more manageable portions and to
target various aspects of accompaniment. After each module, employees will be able to provide

feedback. This will help Partners in Health assess employee progress and target areas for further
improvement. Overall, our approach focuses on interaction and facilitates hands-on application.
Module 1, titled Understanding Accompaniment, primarily seeks to develop an
understanding of accompaniment in the staff. Employees will view a PowerPoint presentation
defining accompaniment and facilitating reflection on accompaniment at Partners in Health. The
presentation will also emphasize situational leadership and integrate leadership principles with
accompaniment. Within the PowerPoint, employees will have the opportunity to discuss case
studies in small groups, or coaching teams. These case studies are based on real situations that
Partners in Health has encountered, and aim to foster creativity and contemplation in complex
scenarios. Then, the employees will fill out the feedback survey to express their progress,
questions, and comments. Module 1 expresses the meaning and the value of accompaniment,
and will help employees begin to recognize how they accompany others and are accompanied.
The second module, Getting Personal with Accompaniment, will allow for further
reflection on how employees can and have engage through accompaniment. The focus is on
informal collaboration to build capacity in employees. The coaching teams from Module 1 will
be organized prior to the start of Module 2. The organization of this extracurricular meeting is
up to each coaching team, so the teams can tailor the structure and timing to best fit their
individual and collaborative needs. Module 2 will begin by presenting the feedback from
Module 1. It will also include each member of the team sharing a personal experience of
accompaniment. The other members of the coaching team will investigate the situation and
propose solutions or future direction. The module ends with personal feedback through a brief
reflective essay to recapitulate the lessons and remaining questions regarding accompaniment.

This loose, highly interactive structure offers different perspectives and fosters the development
of a supportive peer network.
Practicing Accompaniment is the final module, which encourages further engagement
and applies the lessons of the previous two modules. All of the coaching teams will reconvene
and informally present the most important lessons learned and questions remaining from
Modules 1 and 2. This module will also explore multiple levels of accompaniment, from the
individual to international policy, through an in-depth, complex case study. The case study has
several roles to allow employees to engage in these varying levels. The last part of this module
focuses on future opportunities and continuing education of accompaniment. Employees will
have a discussion about how to propagate the accompagnateur culture at Partners in Health, and
in what other aspects accompaniment can be applied. This discussion will stimulate multiplier
effects and continual engagement. Included with this module is a Powerpoint template with
which PIH employees can share their own narratives of accompaniment either within PIH or to
other interested parties, facilitating further awareness. These three diverse modules will educate
and build capacity of future accompagnateurs through defining, engaging, and applying the
concept of accompaniment.
B.

Volunteer Ebola Training Supplement

The Volunteer Ebola Training Supplement (VETS) is aimed at the clinical professionals

who will serve as short- and long-term volunteers for the PIH Ebola response. The overall goal
of the supplement is to engage volunteers through the lens of accompaniment with sequential
activities that are to be performed before, during, and after their volunteer experience.
The first activity is designed to be performed before departure to West Africa and gives
an overview of accompaniment as a concept. It encourages volunteers to begin reflecting on

instances of accompaniment in their own experiences. This session takes the form of a
PowerPoint presentation, along with notes, that volunteers can study and review on their own to
learn about the basic principles of accompaniment and begin developing an accompanimentbased mindset for their volunteer experience.
The second activity is meant to be performed during the volunteering experience. It
encourages volunteers to keep journals in order to actively reflect on their experiences as part of
the Ebola response. The journal prompts are not designed to dictate specific, structured journal
writing, but rather to give volunteers an idea of the kinds of questions they might want to be
asking and to act as jumping-off points for reflection. Additionally, the journal entries will serve
the volunteer as a vehicle to aid in presenting more effectively to their local hospitals or clinics
upon returning from West Africa.
The third activity is meant to be performed once the volunteers have completed their
service with PIH and have returned home. The goal of this activity is to provide volunteers with
a tool to help them share their experiences as an Ebola volunteer with their communities. Not
many people will have the opportunity to witness firsthand how Ebola has affected Sierra Leone
and Liberia, so this presentation platform will give volunteers a workable method of sharing their
experiences with accompaniment. The blank slides of the provided PowerPoint are meant to be
filled out using the notes under each given slide and journal entries as a guide. This activity will
allow volunteers to structure and organize their personal narrative in order to share their story of
accompaniment with PIH.
C. Experiential Accompaniment Activities
Recognizing the numerous ongoing commitments of some of PIHs longer-term
employees, the team tried to seek feasible and sustainable ways to promote the value of

accompaniment in the daily environment of the organization. This manual outlines three
different recommendations that would require minimal effort and time, but ideally have the
potential for a lasting impact. Through all three of these suggestions, we hope to integrate
accompaniment into the daily experiences of employees.
A. Billboard Exercise
We suggest the use of a billboard, whiteboard, blank poster, or other medium on which
employees can write personal, brief responses to an already posted question about
accompaniment. It will be located in a well-frequented area, preferably where people normally
spend time waiting: for example inside/outside the elevator, above the copy machine, near the
water cooler. Ideally, this method will foster communication and discussion between employees
regarding accompaniment.
B. Self Evaluation
We have developed a brief self-evaluation, based on the Accompaniment in Practice
Training surveys and tailored for individuals involved with Partners in Health in the long run.
Ideally, this evaluation can be incorporated into the existing system that is used to conduct
employee evaluations and self-assessments. Individuals will have the opportunity to revisit the
concept of accompaniment on a regular basis (either annual, bi-annual, quarterly, etc.) and reflect
on both their progress and their challenges.
C. Visual Reminder
A simple technique to encourage the incorporation of accompaniment into the daily
experiences of individuals at PIH could be through a visual reminder. This can take the form of a
poster to be hung in a well-frequented area, a small printed image for each employee to place in
his/her office/workspace or distribute to others, etc.

V.

Comparative Analyses
For our comparative analyses, the team discussed six examples that provide a framework

for comparison in the development of our context-sensitive and usable curriculum. These
examples are the 70:20:10 model, American Express, the Disney Corporation, the BRAC
Learning Division, Mdecins Sans Frontires and the Fall 2013 Notre Dame Development
Advisory Team project.
Developed by the Center Creative Leadership the 70:20:10 model considers learning to
be 70% on-the-job experience, 20% informal learning and 10% formal learning. In order for a
message to be cultivated effectively, learning must be supplemented through active participation
as well as other experiences such as typical teacher/student situations and group discussions. For
PIH, the team believed interactive case studies would be an effective way to apply the lessons of
accompaniment for long-lasting impact.
The second example examined was the training programs developed by American
Express. Their company believes in the importance of utilizing management into training
programs for new employees to foster camaraderie within the company and instill community
values from those who understand those values the best. As an example for PIH, veteran staff
members with extensive experience utilizing the principles of accompaniment would be
incredibly influential in training new members of PIH on what accompaniment actually is.
The next example, The Walt Disney Organization, trains all of their employees with the
understanding that teaching values rather than objectives is more effective in training programs.
Disney intentionally over manages aspects of their business and training programs to make
intricate operations seem simple. Through this model, Disney is given a way to make use of
continuous employee, a similar model that would aid the PIH training process.

Our fourth example is BRACs training program which provides case studies, roleplaying activities and simulations of real life experiences to give their employees an interactive
experience. Through this model, BRAC empowers employees to feel confident in their decisionmaking skills. PIH, in the spirit of accompaniment, would use this model to better enable their
partners to feel assured in their decisions and provide a greater autonomy within the
organization.
The fifth model examined was Mdecins Sans Frontires which believes that their
approach to core values should be consistent, believing that maintaining organizational principles
is imperative to enacting sustainable change. By adapting their methods to fit a cultural context,
MSF is able to maintain their core values without compromise while still remaining culturally
sensitive. Through the use of this model and the principles of situational leadership, PIH can
apply this model as an organizational example.
The sixth and final model examined was the Fall 2013 Notre Dame DAT project. This
project provided an abstract with which the team used to develop the training program materials.
Through their work to move accompaniment from an abstract concept to a tangible learning
device, the team was able to identify what would be effective in teaching the values and
characteristics of accompaniment towards a mass audience.

VI.

Further Steps & Recommendations

There is a lot of information included in this report, perhaps to the point where it may

seem unclear how best to proceed. However, there are three, concrete steps that we feel would
be best for PIH to take moving forward. The first step would be to contact the coordinator in
charge of training the Ebola volunteers and present to them the Volunteer Ebola Training

10

Supplement (VETS). Though we have attempted to make it as operational as possible on its

own, it would become even more effective if it could be integrated successfully into existing PIH
training materials. There is only a limited window before the clinical volunteers leave for West
Africa, and as a result, this step needs to be considered as soon as possible so that the volunteers
receive their materials before their departure.
The second step forward would be to consider implementing one or more of the
experiential accompaniment activities in the Boston office or in an international office. These
activities were intentionally designed for easy, effective use, and it would be prudent to begin
integrating them into daily activities so that they become quickly accepted into PIHs everyday
working environment. Although these activities may seem small, we feel strongly that they have
the potential to make a lasting, sustainable impact in furthering understanding about
accompaniment.
The third step forward would be to test-run the three module training session on the
incoming summer PIH interns as well as interested full-time or new PIH employees if applicable.
Since the interns have the most free time, they represent the ideal population to undergo the full,
formal training over three weeks. This experimental run will allow for feedback and
troubleshooting, and hopefully, will be successful enough to convince full-time PIH employees
to consider devoting some of their limited time to participate in the trainings.
We will also provide some recommendations to future DAT groups working with PIH on
the Accompaniment project. It would be valuable for subsequent groups to test these trainings
(the three modules as well as the experiential accompaniment activities) on student groups or
other interested parties in order to gather data on their efficacy. It would also be worthwhile to
follow up with the Ebola clinical volunteers to hear their feedback on the VETS, given that PIH

11

incorporates our suggestions into their trainings. Lastly, we think it would be valuable to
brainstorm and operationalize ways that these accompaniment trainings could be spread to other
development organizations to spread understanding of the theory even further.
VII.

Conclusion
This semester, our DAT team has been working to advise PIH on how to better

communicate the concept of accompaniment to its employees - both how it looks in theory and
how it operates in practice. This is an important project as accompaniment comprehensively
shapes the organizations approach to service, partnership, and engagement.
In order to make relevant and usable recommendations for our client, the team began by
conducting six different comparative analyses across other corporations and organizations to
provide a framework for our work. Lessons learned from these comparisons greatly informed the
team going forward, both in terms of structure and content. From this, the team was able to
develop a formal training curriculum - a system that primarily targets full-time employees and
summer interns composed of three flexible modules: Understanding Accompaniment, Getting
Personal with Accompaniment, and Practicing Accompaniment. Additionally, this curriculum
was adapted into an Ebola Training Guide relevant to the many doctors and other employees that
PIH has been working on sending to Africa recently. This portion of the project has three parts an introduction to the basic theory of accompaniment, journal questions for the employees during
their time in the field, and a Powerpoint template to facilitate sharing their experiences. Lastly,
the manual includes a few simple and sustainable recommendations for incorporating
accompaniment into the environment of the organization in the long term.
The DAT team hopes that PIH will be able to incorporate some or all of this material in
its work, perhaps by following the suggested future steps outlined above, to increase

12

understanding of the theory of accompaniment to all PIH employees across contexts. Ideally,
from this, awareness of the theory of accompaniment will be promoted to a wider scale through
continued conversation and education, and its impact will spread even further.
VIII.

Appendix
A. Comparative Essays
1. American Express (AMEX)
2. Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
3. Disney
4. BRAC
5. 70:20:10
6. Notre Dame DAT Projects
B. Accompaniment Training Modules
C. Ebola Volunteer Training Supplement

A. Comparative Essays
1. American Express
Express Accompaniment:
An Analysis of American Expresss Training Methodologies
Introduction
Partners in Health (PIH) is a non-profit health organization that works with local partners
and governments around the world to improve access to care. Central to their work is a concept
called accompaniment, which proposes to build a different long-term relationship between that is
traditionally called donor and recipient and mandates walking side-by-side rather than
leading. This model informs all the PIH does, but although the concept is ubiquitous in usage,
many employees within PIH have issues defining it and applying its meaning to practice.
American Express (AMEX) is a for-profit, global financial services company that seeks
to provide customers with access to products, insights, and experiences that enrich lives and
build business successes. AMEX prides itself on its exceptional customer service as well as its
innovative training programs for employeesin 2011 they were ranked the highest in customer

13

satisfaction among credit card companies according to a study by J.D. Power and Associates for
the fifth consecutive year. Although these two organizations seem markedly disparate in their
missions, PIH has the potential to learn from AMEXs success in creating a complete, consistent
organizational understanding of the companys values. This paper hopes to demonstrate how
PIH can benefit from training practices developed by American Express to better disseminate the
theory of accompaniment to their organization.
Theory of Change
AMEX expresses on their website that their mission is to work hard everyday to make
American Express the worlds most respected service brand (Who We Are). Following this
declaration, AMEX lists three key operating principles: offering superior value to all customers,
operating with best economic practices, and supporting the AMEX brand. Of these three, the
first is the principle that most guides AMEXs daily actions, and furthermore, AMEXs theory of
change is that the quality of customer service starts with the people who deliver it (American
Express: Case Study 2011). AMEX recognizes that its brands reputation for superior service
depends on employees that share the companys values and commitment to this theory of
change, and therefore, it prioritizes employee engagement with the company. Looking at
specific initiatives, there are three strong programs that AMEX has utilized to ensure that
employees understand and practice AMEXs vision. The rest of this essay will explore each of
these practices and their impacts.
Pay for Performance
In 1997, AMEX began a new strategy to improve customer service through better
unifying employees. Led by Mary Anne Rasmussen, who was vice president of worldwide
quality at the time, the company began to ignore the barriers created by individual departments

14

and instead designed a comprehensive delivery system centered on the customer request rather
than the companys infrastructure. They termed this new system customer-based transactions
(Denton 1997). This change created a new environment in which employees could better follow
the customer transaction process, and moreover, better recognize their personal impact. With
this development, AMEX could directly measure the outcome of a service employees
performance on an individual customer, creating a powerful feedback device that explicitly
demonstrates to lower-level employees how they fit into the companys operations. Utilizing
over 100 customer transaction related measures, this system provides quantifiable goals for
performance (usually 97%), with individuals having the capacity to monitor their progress,
recognize if they need to improve, and most importantly, see immediate worth in their actions.
As of 2013, AMEX still utilizes these indicators in their compensation system called Pay for
Performance, in which achievement on these metrics has a direct correlation with ones salary
and bonuses.
Through the customer-based transactions, AMEX used the established company value of
customer service as a unifying factor that creates a system where across the entire transaction, all
employees involved regardless of position or department attributed the same importance to
service. Furthermore, by connecting general compensation to this system, AMEX was able to
incentivize employee buy-in to this system. Although not explicitly a training curriculum, this
system built allegiance to AMEXs mission by codifying it into daily work. Customer service is,
in many ways, to AMEX what accompaniment is to PIHa core value that needs to be
understood at an organizational level. Although it would be difficult to develop quantitative
indicators that measure how successfully a customer for PIH is accompanied, a system such
as AMEXs that unifies the different workers in a system using a common metric based in

15

accompaniment could be very successful in ensuring employees at all levels of delivery

understand what that concept really means.
American Express Quality Leadership
American Express adopted the American Express Quality Leadership (AEQL)
framework in 1996 as the way to define, describe and monitor quality. The training of this
program immediately incorporates the top management by forcing senior system to sign the
Participants Guide in a commitment to success. The guide seeks to provide a broad vision of
what it means to operate under AEQL and involve employees in quality improvement initiatives.
It defines AEQL as a management system for adding value to your products/services
byinvesting in your products/services/people (American Express: Aiming to Be the Best in
the World). At the end of the training, participants should clearly recognize AEQL principles
and understand how this training will lead to greater success for the employees and the company.
Company executives act as the trainers for these workshops, which underscores full
organizational commitment to the program as well as teaching by staff that fully understand the
companys values and can teach from that foundation. For AMEX, these values come from the
Blue Box, a list of eight specific organizational tenets.
Strictly from an employee-training standpoint, this framework is useful for PIH because
given PIHs roots as a charity organization founded by a small, passionate group of people, the
involvement of executives as trainers would be very impactful in disseminating accompaniment.
There are brilliant minds on the PIH staff who have been putting the theory of accompaniment
into practice for decades. AEQL purposefully forces senior staff participation because they often
have the best understanding of the companys values and should be able to smoothly impart them
into the curriculum, and in PIHs case, veteran staff members with extensive experience working

16

for the organization are the best vehicles to convey what accompaniment is. Instead of solely
relying on traditional trainers like the human resources department, greater inclusion from all
levels of the organization in the training process could be more impactful.
Quality University
AMEX implemented a unique initiative in 1990 called the Quality University as a
training program for its employees. A pilot program, the Quality University used an
environment similar to an educational institution to teach to employees AMEXs organizational
values. New employees were enrolled full-time in the Quality University in an established
curriculum in classes that focused on the companys philosophy and how this vision is manifest
in its daily activities. As one public affairs manager for AMEX phrased it, if various levels of
people, whether they are vice presidents or service representatives are learning the core
curriculum, then from top to bottom everyone is speaking the same language (Fiscus 1990).
After the initial course, employees are required to continue to attend the university at least six
days a year for continued education. I was unable to uncover whether this initiative is still
continuing today for AMEX.
With regards to PIH, this approach could be useful because a classroom atmosphere
creates a sense of legitimacy. This new setting reinforces the importance of learning key
organizational values, such as accompaniment, and may render employees more receptive to
learning. Within the office setting, employee trainings have the potential to be ignored or
considered of little value, and the extra effort required to change venue may give training
sessions greater authority in the perception of employees.
Conclusion

17

AMEX has demonstrated great success in their work and should rightfully be considered
a bright spot in the world of finance for exhorting specific company values (customer service),
effectively putting them into practice, and creating a variety of programs that ensure the
organization as a whole has the same, consistent understanding. PIH, although it has been
lauded as one of the worlds best non-profit organizations, has had issues in keeping their
international staff of over 13,000 employees on the same page regarding accompaniment, their
theory of change. This paper has sought to demonstrate where specifically PIH could learn from
AMEXs example and how these new perspectives would improve PIHs operations.
Although AMEX also works on a global scale, it is an important limitation of this paper that
AMEX does not have not navigate nearly the same extent of cultural, economic, and political
contexts as PIH due to their employee populations. PIH is often employing the people most
marginalized by society as acompagnateurs, and although this paper illustrated how PIH could
benefit from AMEXs practices, this is by no means a direct transfer of practices. Another
important limitation has been the accessibility of information on AMEXs training practices. As
previously stated, it was unable to be confirmed whether the Quality University is still an active
program. There were brief mentions in a 2007 article (American Express Company) of a
program called Connections, whose purpose is to teach firm values and vision to new employees,
that may have replaced the university program, although there has been no confirmation of this.
This paper will be updated and edited as future information becomes available in order to best
serve PIH.
Questions that remain are whether or not the Quality University is still in place, what
practices are encompassed in the Connections program and how it works with new employees,
and how involved senior staff currently are in training practices.

18

References:
"American Express Company." T+D Oct. 2007: 80. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 3 Nov.
2014.
"American Express: aiming to be the best in the world." Management Decision Sept. 1996: 41+.
Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Denton, D. Keith, and Peter Richardson. "A unifying approach to management." Management
Decision May-June 1997: 398+. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Fiscus, Chris. "American Express expounds values in training school." Arizona Business Gazette
28 Sept. 1990: 17+. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
"Our Company." American Express. American Express, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
To Our Employees. American Express. American Express. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
2. Doctors Without Borders
Comparative Essay: Medicins Sans Frontieres
For over thirty years, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has stood out as an international
organization committed to delivering emergency medical care to those in need. Described as an
international, independent, medical humanitarian organization (MSF 2014), MSF has faithfully
aided the unserved, those affected by war, ravaged by disease and subject to national disasters
without prejudice or bias. By enlisting the help of doctors and other health professionals, MSF
sustains their mission by honoring five main principles: medical ethics, independence,
impartiality and neutrality, bearing witness and accountability. (MSF 2014).
Their promise to uphold the values of medical ethics lies directly in their belief and
understanding in the dignity of the people they serve; by giving respecting their patients
autonomy and confidentiality, they seek to build relationships with the people they are serving
regardless of the time being spent in their care. These values can prove to be difficult in
scenarios of that conflict with the cultural practices they are serving in. For example, MSF
19

opposes female genital mutilation, believing that any steps that would ensure the medical
safety of the procedure are inconsequential in comparison to the violation of human rights and
welfare. In a case study examined by Sheather and Shah (2010), a nurse inside a particular
community asked an MSF facility for tools to aid in the procedure and to minimize the risk of
infection. This request directly opposes the medical oath to do no harm yet if they refuse to
provide the resources, they are indirectly causing harm to be done to young women by letting the
procedure continue in hazardous conditions. In this particular case study, MSF decided not to
give the nurse the tools, explaining their beliefs with the hope that the nurse would be able to
influence the community in a way that an international organization could not. A local nongovernmental organization was called which performed workshops, educating the people about
the dangers of female genital mutilation. This eventually led to the senior chief proclaiming at
his newest daughters birth that she would not undergo the procedure, setting a precedent for the
rest of the community. Had MSF directly intervened, the result could have been vastly different
and wouldve damaged the relationship with the community.
Upholding their beliefs in independence, impartiality and neutrality in their work, MSF
seeks to limit the amount of funding that they receive from federal governments. Through
donations and support from charities and individuals, MSF is able to maintain its autonomy in
their decision making processes. In war-torn regions where political tensions runs high, MSF has
been granted access to people in need of medical care because theyre neutral position has given
them the platform to do so (Godlee 2009). However their neutral position is not without risk.
Political groups with little regard for health and human welfare have caused MSF to be the
subject of violent attacks (Abu SaDa et al. 2014). Nevertheless, their pledge to remain neutral
has continued. If MSF were to receive donations from governments, they could be considered

20

bias in the cases of war and in some instances, would be more at risk for violent attacks. Using
their neutrality as a shield, MSF is able to give meaning to their name: Doctors Without
Borders.
Although MSF is highly committed to their stance of neutrality, they do not equate
neutrality with silence. Crimes against humanity are reported along with the prevention of
medical care, aid that is inadequately given or abused (MSF 2014). Without taking hold of this
responsibility, MSF believes it would be complicit in these crimes. However, their stance on
bearing witness is not without complication. In choosing to bear witness, MSF was subject to
violent terrorist attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan which led to the withdrawal of their services in
those regions during that time (Katz and Wright 2004). Although they sought to provide medical
assistance to all in need, the United States and other allies designated their support as part of
their military intervention. With their people at risk and their position as an organization
compromised, MSF felt as if they had no choice but to withdraw. This caused turmoil for the
organization as they had worked with the vulnerable populations in that area for over twenty
years (Left 2004). Without their commitment to the standards they have set their credibility as an
organization would falter.
Subsequently, the credibility of MSF is what supports their drive for accountability.
Maintaining a system of accountability holds MSF responsible for their actions as well as opens
the door to constructive criticism. Shevchenko and Fox (2008) studied one such problem which
concerned the hiring of their staff. In a case study in Russia, Shevchenko and Fox studied the
inequality of expatriate to national staff hiring. Although the work of the expatriates was
necessary, MSF was critical of their numbers; MSF did not wish to be discriminatory in their
hiring process nor perpetuate colonialist ideals in their organization. According to the work done

21

by Shevchenko and Fox, their concerns were proven unnecessary as the differences in the groups
allowed for a diverse work environment. Additionally, as they are an international organization
their hiring process would be incomplete were there not employees from all regions of the world.
MSF provides many insights for Partners in Health and their theory of accompaniment. Partners
in Health (PIH) seeks to promote the theory of accompaniment to their organization and others
within the field of international development. PIH believes that in order to be sustainable, aid
must be conducted with an idea of working alongside the communities rather than in a
donor/recipient relationship.
Through MSFs principles, a framework can be developed to understand how the theory
of accompaniment can be taught in an educational setting. MSF has expanded to over seventy
countries with thirty thousand employees around the world, all working under the same five
principles. Their ability to commit the vision of medical ethics, independence, neutrality, bearing
witness and accountability has led them to become a premier organization that is universally
recognized for its commitment to health, wellness and the good of mankind (Hillhorst and
Schmiemann 2002). The five principles of MSFs work constitute their theory of change,
implying that in order to be an effective organization their core values must never be
compromised. MSF demonstrates a willingness to adapt and tailor their work to the betterment of
the community rather than their own agenda while still maintaining the principles that have
carried them thus far.
Through every culture that they are in, through whatever adversity they face, MSF
remains steadfast in their goals across the board. Their ability to effectively communicate their
ideals to their workers and for their workers to live out those principles serves as a powerful
model of what PIH can do. Through a committed vision of what accompaniment is and

22

empowering their workers to facilitate that vision, PIH is capable of changing the way
humanitarian work is done.
References:
Abu SaDa, C., Duroch, F., & Taithe, B. (2014). Attacks on medical missions: overview of a
polymorphous reality: the case of Mdecins Sans Frontires. International Review Of The Red
Cross, 95(890), 309-330.
Godle, F. (2009). BMJ CHRISTMAS CHARITY APPEAL: Please help support Mdecins Sans
Frontires. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 339(7734): 1341.
Hillhorst, D. and Schmiemann, N. (2002). Humanitarian Principles and Organisational Culture:
Everyday Practice in Mdecins Sans Frontires-Holland. Development in Practice, 12(3/4), 490500.
Left, S. (2004). Mdecins Sans Frontires to leave Afghanistan. The Guardian.
<http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/jul/28/internationalaidanddevelopment.afghanistan>.
MSF. (2014).
Medicins Sans Frontieres. <http://www.msf.org/>
MSF Charter and Principles. <http://www.msf.org/msf-charter-and-principles>
Sheather, J. and Shah, T. (2010). Ethical dilemmas in medical humanitarian practice: cases for
reflection from Mdecins Sans Frontires. J Med Ethics, 11(37): 162-165.
Shevchenko, O. and Fox, R.C. (2008). Nationals" and "Expatriates": Challenges of Fulfilling
"Sans Frontires" ("Without Borders") Ideals in International Humanitarian Action. Health and
Human Rights, 10(1):109-122.
3. Disney
Behind the Mouse: The Disney Training Model
Although the Walt Disney Company is most commonly associated with a cartoon mouse,
the corporation itself is an incredibly prosperous business. Celebrated for its customer service
and positive atmosphere, Disneys employee training has become a model for all types of
organizations. As a for-profit corporation, it seeks to effect change by providing a commercial
entertainment experience for families and creating an imaginative environment for children
around the world. On the other hand, Partners in Healths theory of change is to better the world

23

by providing medical and humanitarian aid to those who need it most, especially in developing
countries. Its current goal is to increase employee training on patient-centered accompaniment in
order to improve the quality of care. Dr. Paul Farmer defines accompaniment in many ways: to
break bread together, to be present on a journey with a beginning and an end, to [stick] with
a task until its deemed completed by the person being accompanied, rather than by the
accompagnateur (Farmer, 2011). Dr. Farmer seeks to imbue these philosophies of compassion
and perseverance in all Partners in Health employees. While Disneys end goals may be
radically different from Partners in Healths, its principles of employee training can still be
applied. Most notably, Disneys emphasis on values, organization, and engagement has
effectively facilitated its growth into a massively successful, world-renowned corporation.
Disney stresses the importance of teaching values, rather than just providing objective
instructions. Employees are not only told precisely what to do, but the reasons why they are
doing it and the impact their actions may have on guests. The passage of values increases
sustainability within a corporation by providing inspiration, dedication, and a common vision.
As soon as employees are hired, they are inducted into the Disney family by receiving a sacred
nametag, establishing a sense of dedication and solidarity within the employees (Newell-Legner,
2005). Additionally, training is organized and facilitated by seasoned veteran Disney employees
to develop camaraderie and a familial environment. This facilitates cooperative efforts towards a
common vision: for Disney, this vision is to forge a connection between the parks and the
visitors, to provide excellent service and entertainment, and to affirm Disneys reputation as the
Happiest Place on Earth (Gallo, 2011). For Partners in Health, this vision is to accompany
patients with exceptional, patient-centered care. Teaching employees about the goals behind
their roles stokes internal motivation to perform at a higher level. Much like Partners in Health,

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Disney teaches employees the values of respect, teamwork, compassion, and proactivity. In
practice, this may consist of spending an extra minute talking to a child at the park for Disney, or
bringing a patient a gift for Partners in Health. Small gestures like these accumulate to create
positive experiences for patients and customers alike. Disneys success cannot be replicated
without educating employees about the intangible, bedrock principles behind an organization
(Lipp, 2013). Employees of both Disney and Partners in Health are passionate about their
causes, and this passion can be strengthened by educating employees on the visions and values of
the respective organizations. Thus, Partners in Health employees should be taught not only the
definition of accompaniment, but what it looks like in practice, why it is crucial for each
individual patient, and how it can advance global health and development.
Furthermore, Disneys focus on organization has allowed it to develop a highly efficient
environment despite its vast size. Hiring is selective, and applicants must be coachable in
terms of training. Once selected, employees will not see a single guest until they have completed
the intensive training (Freeman, 2014). At training sessions, Disney focuses specifically on
planning, role clarification, right-fit talent, accountability, and supporting processes (Disney,
2012). These trainings intensively teach four keys for success: safety, courtesy, show, and
efficiency. Every employee or team member at Disney Parks is also rigorously trained in
communication to ensure smooth production. Any delay or problem is immediately noted,
relayed, corrected, and resolved (Gallo, 2011). Relative to most corporations, Disney
intentionally and consistently over-manages aspects of their business to make intricate
operations seem simple (Lipp, 2013). Such extreme attention to detail ensures consistent,
excellent service (Freeman, 2014). The high production value of Disney entertainment is often
taken for granted by consumers, but the meticulousness behind the scenes is crucial to its

25

success. While such precision may seem rigid or impersonal, it can benefit Partners in Health by
ensuring that each and every employee receives quality training. The lesson of large-scale
organization can be implemented as Partners in Health grows; increased rigor and uniformity in
employee training creates a more organized group with greater potential to work efficiently.
Perhaps most importantly, Disneys employee training model includes continuous
engagement. Engagement between the corporation and employees is increased by delegating
responsibilities and power to employees. This creates accountability and encourages employees
to take ownership of each task. In these situations, employees are more likely to take the
initiative to strive for performance excellence (Disney, 2012). Subsequently, Disney increases
engagement by offering continuous education to their employees. Using a philosophy of
Entertain and Educate, Disney sustains education long after the initial intensive training
sessions are over (Giliberto, 2013). Employee training occurs all year round, and repeatable
key phrases are used to continually remind workers of their responsibilities and impacts
(Freeman, 2014). Moreover, engagement between employees and customers sets the Disney
experience apart. Employees are trained to be assertively friendly by interacting with guests
waiting in line, using the customers first name, offering interesting information about the parks,
and even picking up garbage on the ground (Gallo, 2009). These gestures are of little or no cost
to Disney, but show visitors that the employees care about the quality of the individual
customers experience. While the term assertively friendly is not inviting, the idea is to
wholeheartedly surpass the normal standard of courtesy, much as accompaniment surpasses the
expected level of care and involvement. Building a positive experience for customers begins
with personal engagement on an emotional level (Freeman, 2014). Ongoing engagement
between Disney and its employees and between employees and clients is vital to maintaining

26

success. Disneys emphasis on engagement is analogous to Partners in Healths emphasis on

accompaniment; both seek to exceed expectations by providing an additional level of care.
Partners in Health may find it useful to provide continuous accountability and education to
employees, and to increase the focus on employee patient emotional engagement.
In accordance with Disneys training principles, Partners in Health can amend their
current employee training curriculum to educate employees about accompaniment. Increasing
the organization of employee education and offering it continually may lead to increased success.
Adjusting the curriculum of employee education to focus on the values of compassion and
diligence, which Partners in Health embodies, may also improve the quality of care that
employees provide. Finally, emphasizing engagement both between Partners in Health and staff,
and between staff and patients, will raise the standard of success. Initially, Partners in Health
and Disney appear to have nothing in common, but they both seek to provide a positive,
compassionate experience to clients. Effective employee training is one way to attain this goal.
However, it is important to note that Disney varies in culture and structure from Partners in
Health. While the concepts of Disneys training methodsorganization, values, and
engagementare valid, the methods of implementation will vary at Partners in Health.
Accompaniment is a versatile and ever-changing concept that should be taught by leaders to
future leaders, not by bosses to subordinates. Thus, the Development Advisory Team has
formed a curriculum with a focus on interactivity, inclusivity, and applicability, with both longterm and short-term learning methods. Partners in Health will continue accompanying those in
need, and can echo Disneys colossal success by uniquely implementing particularly effective
tenets of its training model.
References:

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Disneys approach to leadership excellence. (2012, March 12). Retrieved from

http://www.ivytech.edu/disneyinstitute/LeadershipExcellence_Extended.pdf
Farmer, P. (2011, May 25). Accompaniment as Policy. Retrieved from
http://www.lessonsfromhaiti.org/press-and-media/transcripts/accompaniment-as-policy/
Freeman, C. (2014, May 19). Disney's focus on its employees allows its employees to best focus
on customers. Retrieved from http://www.bna.com/disneys-focus-employees-n17179890582/
Gallo, C. (2009, December 1). How Disney Works to Win Repeat Customers. Retrieved from
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2009/sb20091130_866423.htm
Gallo, C. (2011, April 14). Customer service the Disney way. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2011/04/14/customer-service-the-disney-way/
Giliberto, S. (2013, April 15). Four questions with Disney Us Doug Lipp. Retrieved from
http://www.peoplefluent.com/blog/four-questions-with-disney-university-doug-lipp
Lipp, D. (2013). Disney U: How Disney University develops the world's most engaged, loyal,
and customer-centric employees. McGraw-Hill.
Newell-Legner, R. (2005). How to develop an effective employee training program. Retrieved
from http://www.ssww.com/docs/resources/2005_S126.pdf
4. BRAC
Employee Training through BRAC
The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is an international development
organization based in Bangladesh that seeks to help the poorest of the poor by helping increase
their access to resources, support their entrepreneurship, and empower them to become agents of
change (BRAC, 2014). Since its inception in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC has
developed into the largest non-governmental development organization in the world. Currently,
BRAC employs over 100,000 people and helps over 126 million people throughout many
different countries such as Afghanistan, Uganda, and Haiti. BRAC helps the poorest of the poor
throughout many different sectors such as public health, education, and economic development.
One particular area in BRAC that has been very successful is their employee training program.
Created in 1973, the BRAC Training Program, now known as the BRAC Learning Division,

28

serves to improve the effectiveness of BRAC by educating its staff, program participants, and
other stakeholders. These training programs would be very useful to our Partners in Health
Project, which strives to teach employees of PIH about accompaniment.
BRAC Learning Divisions theory of change when it comes to education is that the best
way to educate employees is by creating quality and interactive learning spaces, and BRAC does
this through four specific goals. First, BRAC Learning Division wants to create BRAC learning
Centers (BLC) which have the capacity to be centers for excellence for training on leadership
and management (BRAC, 2014). In each of the BLC, course teachers try to create an
environment of openness and respect. Teachers are taught not to just lecture at their students, but
instead try to act as facilitators of the learning process. This is useful to our project because we
realize that the people we are trying to educate are employees who are very busy and probably
dont like to lectured at. BRAC Learning Division really stresses the importance of full
engagement of its employees. To increase participation of its employees, BRAC provides an
array of case studies, role playing activities and different simulation of real life experiences to
give the employees a very interactive experience. We should look to use case studies in our
project that demonstrate accompaniment so that our PIH project is as interactive as possible.
Participants of these courses are often asked to share their experiences of these activities in order
to receive feedback and to increase communication. We should utilize feedback surveys to make
sure we are being effective. Along with interactive activities, there are lectures, discussions, and
seminars that focus on specific conceptual issues. Group and individuals assignments are used to
help develop personal skills.
The second major goal of BRAC Learning Division is provide capacity building support
to BRAC and other organizations. Capacity building is a conceptual approach to development

29

which focuses on understanding the obstacles that prevent people from realizing their goals
while at the same time tries to improving their ability to reach measurable results. The BRAC
Learning Division improves the ability of their employees by teaching decision-making skills
that will help them develop into effective leaders. Programs are available which helps employees
develop strategies that will help improve governance, leadership, administration, collaboration,
marketing and many more different areas. Classes such as Situation Analysis, Effective Selling
Strategies, Children with Special Needs and Quality Assurance in Malaria Programs
demonstrates the diversity of classes which are provided. BRAC Learning Division wants to
make sure their employees are prepared for any situation that may arise when they are working.
This is useful to our project because we should look at leadership training in our project as well
as just training in accompaniment. Accompaniment and leadership have much in common. We
need to have activities that try to teach decision making skills to PIHs employees can utilize the
concepts of accompaniment effectively.
Another objective of BRAC Learning Division is to establish relationships with other
learning organization to continuously improve learning facilities and capacities. BRAC Learning
Division works with numerous different education organizations such as CARE, which works on
providing impoverish women with a quality education, OXFAM, and Save the Children. By
communicating with other development organization, BRAC is able to learn new and effective
strategies to providing care to the impoverished and relaying that information to their employees.
By working in unison with these organization, BRAC employees can also help work with real
issues provided by these organizations and brainstorm their own strategies of dealing with the
problems.

30

The final objective of BRAC Learning Division is to promote BRACs culture and
values. The overall goal of BRAC to help pull people out of poverty so that they can become
successful. BRACs emphasis on the poorest of poor shapes the creation of these education
programs so that their employees can be as helpful as they can for the poor. Interactive scenarios
used in the courses are all real life examples of how one can look at specific development
situations. Employees are taught how to interact with the poor, and strategize ways of being the
effective in helping these people. This emphasis on helping the poor is a testament to BRACs
overall mission to establish social justice, which is similar to PIHs goal of preferential option for
the poor.
BRACs training programs have been expanded internationally to help create more leaders in
other developing countries. The BRAC International Young Professional Program aims at
grooming and preparing promising youths for management positions. These individuals come
from several different developing countries such as Pakistan, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. In the
International Young Professional Program, individuals go through a 30 month comprehensive
training program where they are equipped with hands on management skills, development
practices, and communications competence. In their first 6 months, individuals spend 2 months
doing fieldwork in the individuals home country and 4 months learning through classroom
sessions and fieldwork in Bangladesh.
BRAC Learning Division has served as effective example of how successful NGOs
provide quality education to their employees. BRAC serves as a great template for our PIH
program because both BRAC and PIH have similar goals when it comes to development.
BRACs methodology of providing interactive situations and case studies can easily be applied
to our education program with PIH. By providing a lot of different developmental situation in

31

our program we can help demonstrate the value of accompaniment. The idea of teachers being
more of facilitators who lead the conversation is also valuable because it gives the employees a
chance to lead conversations and help each other. The facilitators foster a quality learning
environment so their training programs can be as effective as possible.
Works Cited
"Assignment Point - Solution for Best Assignment Paper." Employee Training and
Development on BRAC Bank Ltd. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
"BRAC Learning Division." Http://learning.brac.net/. BRAC, n.d. Web.
"In the Black with BRAC (SSIR)." In the Black with BRAC. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov.
2014.
"Ugandan Jobline Jobs - The Best Uganda Jobs." BRAC International NGO Jobs.
N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
5. 70:20:10 Model
The 70:20:10 Model
A frequently cited formula within the training profession to describe the optimal sources
of learning is the 70:20:10 Leadership Development Model. The model emerged from over 30
years of research by the Center for Creative Leadership on the ways executives learn, grow, and
change over the course of their careers (CCL). The rule postulates that successful leaders learn
through three different experiences: experiential learning (70%), social learning (20%), and
formal learning (10%). The theory of change is simple: leadership is principally learned through
doing, but needs to be supplemented by other experiences as well. Countless corporations in a
wide variety of industries have implemented this model or a variation of it over the years
including the Big 4 accounting firms, investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman
Sachs, Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, HP, LOral, Eli Lilly, Best Buy, and the Australian
32

Federal Government. By analyzing this commonly used employee-training model, our

Development Advisory Team will be provided with relevant insight about how much weight to
give to each component of our own model, as well as about some important elements of each
area that we ought to be considering.
Experiential learning, the source of the overwhelming majority of an individuals
development according to this framework, is composed of on-the-job tasks, everyday challenges,
and repetitive practice. This kind of learning is extremely effective because individuals are
discovering applicable skills, taking initiative and making decisions in a job-related setting. For
example, research shows that once someone is asked to commit to a decision, he is personally
invested in the outcome and thus more likely to retain the correct information and learn from his
mistakes (even if initially wrong) than if hed simply been told that answer to begin with.
Similarly, people are more likely to learn effectively when they are given control over situations.
Applying this directly to our client, Partners in Health, is somewhat complicated: because of
their work with issues of global health and patients lives, we cannot justify advocating for trial
and error learning on-the-job. However, our team is planning on developing interactive training
scenarios to simulate life-like experiences, and this model can provide important lessons on how
to do so effectively. Since hands-on experiences count for 70% of an individuals development,
these scenarios should be where we invest much of our time and effort. We should incorporate a
wide variety of new experiences and have each of them mirror reality as closely as possible. One
way to do so could be to have employees develop their own list of potential courses of action,
instead of choosing from pre-determined options. Also, it is crucial that during the exercises,
everyone assesses the problem and makes decisions on their own, prior to any discussion as a
group.

33

The 20% - social learning is achieved through personal relationships, and the two most
significant components of it are mentoring and feedback. Lessons are more powerful when
reinforced through informal discussion with people who have performed similar work. Veterans
in the field can point out common mistakes and offer practical advice. Feedback, by motivating
good behaviors and steering away from bad habits, is critical to improving performance.
Recently, many companies have shifted to online tools to give and receive feedback, which have
the advantage of immediacy, convenience, template-based assistance, and even anonymity when
desired.
At the beginning of our project, our client suggested that feedback is something that she
is interested in, and this model confirms that it would be a promising area to explore. I am
interested in looking into some of these online tools mentioned in the research reports, to see if
they are easily navigable and understandable. Wed need to explore if this is feasible, but ideally
Partners in Health would be able to develop a system where each employees has a mentors or
coaches that can give them feedback not only right after training, but also long-term as well.
It may be surprising that this particular model only attributes 10% of development to
formal training structured coursework, workshops, seminars, and reading. A research report
done by The Bridgespan Group states that the influence of formal training can be increased when
blended with the social learning element. For example, a case study found that the effect of
formal training increased significantly when the participants manager engaged with them before
and after the session. Formal training was most effective when the learner had one-on-one
opportunities to discuss how to apply the training, and the learner perceived that the management
endorsed and supported the training.

34

According to this framework, our DAT team should focus minimally on formal training
resources like PowerPoint presentations and informational resources. These experiences are
useful in setting a foundation for future activities and discussion, but do not seem to be
overwhelmingly effective in really facilitating learning. However, I think standardizing the
employee training across PIH centers internationally would help with the perception of the
management endorsing the training. Lastly, I think it could be helpful for our team to brainstorm
ways to involve managers or others in positions of authority in the training, since this seems to
increase effectiveness significantly.
Sources
Training Industry. The 702010 Model for Learning and Development.
http://www.trainingindustry.com/wiki/entries/the-702010-model-for-learning-anddevelopment.aspx
Rabin, Ron. Blended Learning for Leadership: The CCL Approach. 2014.
http://www.ccl.org/Leadership/pdf/research/BlendedLearningLeadership.pdf.
The Bridgespan Group. The 70-20-10 Model. 2010.
http://www.bridgespan.org/getattachment/2bfae3b6-2815-4cd5-803a-62147735d603/The-70-2010-Model.aspx.
Jennings, Charles. 70:20:10 Framework Explained. 2013.
http://www.slideshare.net/charlesjennings/the-702010-framework.
6. Notre Dame DAT Projects
Past Accompaniment DAT projects
This paper aims to evaluate, analyze, and discuss the courses past From Aid to
Accompaniment DAT projects, in order to better understand and strengthen our own.
Spring 2014: Partnership Potential in Chiapas
Project Summary:

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The overall goal of the spring 2014 PIH DAT project was to explore different, potential
partnership options for PIHs sister organization in Mexico, Compaeros En Salud (CES). CES
was launched in January 2012, so as a relatively new PIH project, there was great opportunity for
partnership development and expansion of relationships in order to grow this organization. The
DAT team recommended that CES focus on three types of partners: local community partners,
large foundations, and well-connected individuals.
Theory of Change:
This group aimed to fulfill their clients wants of expanding their work through broader
partnerships by developing four main objectives:
1. Research financial grants funded by foundations
2. Create a list of possible productive members of a CES advisory board
3. Foster relationships with local groups (NGOs, religious organizations, healthcare initiatives,
etc.)
4. Develop strategies to integrate CES and its new partners at an individual level
The team began by researching potential partners at local, institutional, and individual levels,
keeping in mind CESs goals and pre-existing partner network. In order to visualize their task
and provide a framework for their research, they created a power map depicting potential outlets
for strategic partnerships for CES. Ultimately, the team compiled their research into a working
list of potential partners with descriptions of how they relate or could contribute to CESs
mission. More in depth details about each potential partner can be found in their report.
Connecting to our Project:
This project was all about accompaniment in practice and the process of how sustainable
partnerships are initiated and created. We often think about accompaniment in theoretical terms,

36

but this project forces us to think about how we can apply accompaniment to real-life people and
organizations and how we can get from theory to practical partnership.

Fall 2013: Spreading Accompaniment Globally

Project Summary:
The overall goal of the fall 2013 PIH DAT project was to take PIHs model of
accompaniment and service through solidarity with the poor to the broader world of development
by building awareness of the model on a wider scare and determining how it might be integrated
into other organizations. The idea was that if more people understood accompaniment, support
of PIH, the client, and use of the model would increase significantly.
Theory of Change:
The team first thought about the best approaches for spreading accompaniment. They
selected a varied group of players to target: college students, policy-makers, and nondevelopment professionals, focusing on how to deliver their message to those with little to no
global health or development knowledge. The group wanted to build a social movement in order
to communicate the concept. They then determined that fostering understanding and increasing
accessibility were crucial in conveying the fundamentals of accompaniment. They developed a
presentation that allowed participants to think of a time they were accompanied, elaborate on
why we should care about accompaniment, and discuss how their views of the model changed
throughout the course of the presentation. They brought this presentation to two GlobeMed
chapters and evaluated its success with pre- and post-presentation surveys.
Connecting to our Project:
This project was perhaps the most relevant to our task of thinking about how to teach
accompaniment. This project aimed to take accompaniment from a distant, theoretical, abstract
37

model to something that can be understood and conceptualized by a wider, more general
audience. This is a similar aim to our project of teaching accompaniment to current PIH
employees. One particular quote from their report stuck out to me:
Accompaniment has a narrative more than it has a definition.
This DAT team introduced accompaniment by asking students to describe a time they were
accompanied and how it made them feel. This personal approach would translate well with PIH
employees and offers a natural flow into the narrative of PIH in the context of accompaniment as
an effective, sustainable method of delivering aid.
The PowerPoint presentation they developed would be a great stepping-stone for us and could
potentially be refined to tailor to a more professional audience. Their ideas to improve the
project with the integration of more media, such as videos or SlideRocket, might be engaging
methods of bringing accompaniment to all 15,000 PIH employees.

Spring 2013: Building a Movement

Project Summary:
The overall goal of the spring 2013 PIH DAT project was to bring the idea of
accompaniment to the general public and garner support for this model as an effective method of
aid delivery.
Theory of Change:
This group began by gaining knowledge about accompaniment themselves by researching
the foundations of the model and conversing with PIH staff. In their effort to build a social
movement around accompaniment, they then analyzed several organizations and developed case
studies that related each to aspects of accompaniment. They created a curriculum based on
GlobeMeds model of engagement through education and student movements that they theorized
38

would inspire action. Their curriculum was aimed at university students and heavily focused on
discussion. Similar to the fall 2013 group, the success of the curriculum was evaluated with preand post- presentation surveys.
Connecting to our Project:
This team put together several case studies of situations or organizations where the model
of accompaniment was used and great success was had. Our client requested that we put
together similar case studies and these are excellent examples for us to base our work on.
The benefits of this project to our own overlap with the benefits described above with the
presentation from the fall 2013 group. The curriculum developed by this DAT team has a basic
format for teaching accompaniment, which we could use as we try to develop our own learning
tools to teach PIH staff members. However, their presentation is aimed towards building a social
movement and is heavily discussion based; we would need to refined and altered to cater to
professionals and integrate more participant engagement.

B. Accompaniment Training Modules

(see attached folder)
C. Ebola Volunteer Training Supplement
(see attached folder)

39