From Friendship Benches to Mental Health Apps – Making local ideas go global

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So many people are working to improve health around the world. But many of these efforts tend to go in one direction – people in wealthy countries traveling to lower-income countries with resources and ideas.

Yet people everywhere have great ideas. It’s a shame not to make use of them. And in making good use of locally generated ideas, efforts to improve health naturally become fairer and more equitable.

In this episode of One World, One Health, we caught up with two people working to promote these good ideas from around the world. Some are hi-tech apps, but some are really low-tech. How about friendship benches, an analog way for older women to reach out and share their experiences and promote mental health in their communities?

Lola Adedokun is the Executive Director of the Aspen Global Innovators Group at the Aspen Institute and co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls.

Blair Palmer is the Senior Director for Foundation Partnerships at UNICEF USA. 

Listen as Blair and Lola talk about some of these great ideas and how to better share them.