SOFT POWER: GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH DIPLOMACY
Linda H. Aiken, PhD, RN, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
"There is nothing more powerful in building geopolitical partnerships and fostering the growth of democracy in parts of the world that don't have them than by working together on health."
One of nursing's most visible and influential voices, Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, has been a tireless advocate seeking to advance the profession and improve health both here and abroad. (Aiken also uses her seasoned skills as a nurse, researcher, educator, and advocate to push for a more efficient and effective healthcare workforce and system that keeps patients safe and healthy.)
Aiken's global work focuses on helping countries build a nursing research policy system that connects nurse leaders with their governments in a more effective way and that gives them a larger role in their own countries. Aiken says investment in research to improve global health is essential; the projects and research she does abroad will make a difference here at home as the U.S. attempts to address its own health workforce shortages. Aiken's research helping areas in Europe and Russia to transform how they deliver and practice health care offer lessons learned for the U.S. as we undergo our own healthcare system reform.
Aiken has also exported the idea of "magnet" hospitals to other countries as a way to improve care. Research shows that when hospitals go through the process to be deemed "excellent caregivers" they produce better results for patients. She also is involved in fostering a strategy called "twinning," where a U.S. hospital is matched with a Russian hospital to share and connect at every level, from CEO to CEO, to bedside nurse to bedside nurse. This has been successful in producing examples of excellence in care both here and abroad but has also led to important research partnerships that will improve results and create new ways of care for such things as surgery and heart disease.
Aiken also knows the importance of health diplomacy and the costs of not supporting research for global health. "I don't think this country can afford not to invest in global health research. We must use it as a lead for international policy development. Whether we like it or not, there is a global workforce that influences us both positively and negatively and there are consequences for cost and access if we don't focus our attention on the problem and reach out to countries to share and learn from them."