Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay

A faith-based organization (FBO) is an organization that has a faith or religious component as its foundation and motivation for its work. The purpose of this assignment is to assess a faith-based organization and understand how it is unique. Faith-based organizations play an important role in global health given their holistic approach to serving the whole person and community, especially among vulnerable groups. Identify an example of a faith-based global health organization or ministry. Research the institution by reviewing annual reports, websites, papers, program documents, or conducting in-person or phone interviews. The organization should be at least 5 years old, work in multiple countries, and have an explicit faith-based foundation. Write a 1,000-1,250-word case study on the selected organization in which you assess the following aspects of the organization: Mission Assess how the mission of the organization aligns with its strategies and work. How does the mission of the organization match its strategies and activities in serving vulnerable or low-income populations? How does the organization integrate faith into its public health activities and programs? Comment on how the organization balances its mission to share its faith with its goal to improve health. Are the values of the organization unique compared to other global health organizations? Populations Assess the populations served by the organization or ministry. How does the organization or ministry identify a population or individuals to serve? Does the organization have specific eligibility criteria? Funding Mechanism Assess the funding mechanism of the organization. What are the primary sources of support for the organization? Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay. Do the local populations being served by the organization help support the organization (time, talents, or treasure)? Partnerships Assess the partnerships of the organization within public health to develop innovative and appropriate public health models. How does the organization work or partner with other organizations, churches, or groups in the communities where the organization works? Does the organization partner with governmental public health agencies? How could the organization improve the effectiveness of its \”aid\” and support in the communities within which it works? General Requirements Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.

World Vision is an international Christian advocacy, development, and relief organization committed to working with local partners, communities, families, and children to improve health/nutrition and overcome poverty, disparities, and injustices. Word Vision was established in 1950 with child sponsorship programs and by 1970’s the organization had become a professional development and humanitarian organization (Hasu, 2018). The programmes and offices of World Vision are span over 100 countries and covers multi-faith environments and fragile contexts within Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Africa. The organization works and partners the local and national governments through regional development programmes. Communities are engaged within the programmes to identify the priority and most tenacious needs of the families and children within the community. World Vision implements the interventions and programmes in accordance with the locally-identified needs.  Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay.

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Mission

The mission of the World Vision is to follow Jesus’ footsteps by working with the marginalized, oppressed, and the poor to impact their lives, seek justice, and improve their lives.  The organization pursues this mission using an integrated holistic approach by implementing projects aimed to improve health and conditions of the vulnerable communities; assisting people and communities affected by disasters and conflicts; implementing community-based and sustainable project focusing on the needs of the vulnerable, especially the children; promoting justices to change the unjust structures and disparities that affect the poor; and partners with churches to facilitate social transformation (Hasu, 2018). For example, World Vision implements projects aimed to improve the maternal and infant health; improve the status of malnourished children; disease prevention; health promotion; prevention of infectious diseases; improve health systems; as well as help the communities, women, and children suffering from isolation, violence, and powerlessness.

Generally, the World Vision Organization aims to restore hope in the affected communities, promote good nutrition and good hygiene; and strengthen healthcare systems by distributing drugs and medical supplies, training community health workers, constructing and refurbishing healthcare organizations and funding the payment of healthcare providers to serve vulnerable communities (Park et al., 2018). The mission and activities of the World Vision are consistent with the activities of FBOs in communities. According to Schoenberg (2017), FBOs integrate spiritual and physical realms to promote health and prevent diseases. FBOs have consistently implemented health promotion and disease prevention programs in domains like health education, improve health, nutritional guidance, management of chronic diseases, geriatric care, maternal and children’s health, among other aspects (Schoenberg., 2017).

Populations

World Vision organization targets the vulnerable populations in communities such as the disaster-stricken communities, poor communities, the children, women, and the poor. For example, the organization is child-focused and has emergency programs that address the protection and education of children in disaster-stricken regions (Hasu, 2018). The organization also has food assistance programs aimed to improve food security through improved nutritional status and access to food. World Vision provides food assistance to approximately 1.3 million people facing hunger in more than 30 countries. The organization has implemented nay health and nutrition programs aimed to improve the health and welfare of populations affected by disasters and emergencies to improve access to health and prevent deterioration of communities’ health (Prosnitz et al., 2019). Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay. Moreover, World Vision implements Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programs in vulnerable communities to promote hygiene and behavior change, establish an enabling environment, improve access to safe drinking water, and prevent infectious diseases. The organization also supports pregnant women to improve maternal health through funded antenatal and prenatal programs.

The organization identifies the populations to serve by identifying consultancy firms that perform needs assessments and baseline assessment to identify the needs of the communities. The recruited firms to conduct assessments are normally well-established organizations with experience in carrying research to identify the needy regions and communities (McCollim, 2019). The findings from the baseline and needs assessment inform the organization’s decision to implement its projects.

Funding Mechanism

The operations and activities of World Vision are financed through donations from private donors and public organizations like multilateral organizations, as well as government agencies and the United Nations. Other organizations that fund activities of World Vision include World Food Programme (WFP); Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA); and UNICEF. World Vision funds its projects depending on the intensity and needs of the community members (McCollim, 2019). Support and aids are based on needs alone. The support offices raise funds to support the programmes of World Vision throughout the world. The local field offices coordinating community members and local agencies implement the World Vision programs. Whereas World Vision significantly relies on partnerships all over the world, the local communities are actively involved throughout the project’s implementation (Park et al., 2019). The locals have a sense of ownership and participate in the project’s activities such as identifying their most pressing needs, identifying areas where the project should be implemented, and taking part during the project’s implementation. Community involvement during the project’s implementation is essential to transformational development (Collins et al., 2018).

Partnerships

As aforementioned, World Vision partners with other international organizations like the United Nations, OFDA, Global Fund, World Food Programme, and UNICEF to implement health, WASH, and food security programs. Moreover, the organization works in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Health Cluster, and the Ministry of Health in various countries to decrease morbidity and mortality and improve access to healthcare services (Hasu, 2018). World Vision also partners with local churches and local government agencies when implementing its programmes. Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay.

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Public healthcare organizations are actively involved during the implementation of the organization’s projects. For example, World Vision Organization utilizes healthcare providers from public agencies and local health facilities during the implementation of its projects. The local health facilities are constantly funded and supplied with medical supplies to improve their care delivery systems.

All projects from World Vision support the local and national programs utilizing evidence-based practices to prevent and treat diseases, including health promotion, prevention education, and improving access to healthcare services (Schoenberg, 2017).

Conclusion

World Vision is an international FBO that mainly focuses to improve the healthcare systems at community and health facility levels using different approaches. The organization also focuses to improve the nutrition of children, improve maternal and infant health, among other areas. The organization mainly targets vulnerable populations and conflict-affected areas. To accomplish its strategic goals, World Vision partners with various stakeholders, including the international organizations, Community-based organizations, the Ministry of Health, and other FBOs. Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay.

References

Collins, S. E., Clifasefi, S. L., Stanton, J., Straits, K. J., Gil-Kashiwabara, E., Rodriguez Espinosa, P., & Nelson, L. A. (2018). Community-based participatory research (CBPR): Towards equitable involvement of the community in psychology research. American Psychologist, 73(7), 884.

Hasu, P. (2018). Faith-based development of World Vision Tanzania. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 33(3), 389-406.

McCollim, E. (2019). A Tale of Two Influences: An Exploration of Downward Accountability in World Vision International. The University of San Diego.

Schoenberg N. E. (2017). Enhancing the role of faith-based organizations to improve health: a commentary. Translational behavioral medicine, 7(3), 529–531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-017-0485-1.

Park, C., Martirosyan, A., Frehywot, S., Jones, E., Labat, A., Tam, Y., & Opong, E. (2019). The modeling assessment of World Vision’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program in Southern Africa countries, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia: analyses using Lives Saved Tool. Journal of Global Health Reports, 3(1).

Prosnitz, D., Herrera, S., Coelho, H., Moonzwe Davis, L., Zalisk, K., & Yourkavitch, J. (2019). Evidence of Impact: iCCM as a strategy to save the lives of children under five. Journal of global health, 9(1), 010801. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.09.010801. Faith-Based Organization Case Study (World Vision) Essay .