Research & Guiding Principles

Theorectical Framework for Primary Health Care in Tibet

As a response to the various health care problems in rural Tibetan communities, the Tibetan Healing Fund, with the guidance of Dr. Kunchok Gyaltsen, created a new strategy called the Three-Level Approach. This approach was designed to improve the health care system at the county, community, and family levels in order to deliver appropriate and comprehensive services to the entire population, particularly women and children.

This strategy is the guideline and backbone to Tibetan Healing Fund’s maternal and child health projects. The health care system is complex, with various levels from the village to the provincial level of health services and referral systems. The objective of this new strategy is to improve the quality of health care services by including culturally appropriate, locally available, accessible, and affordable services for all. We want to concentrate on the community and family levels because the purpose of this plan is to improve the health care system for rural Tibetan areas.

The Three-Level Approach is:
1) to create a new health facility to strengthen current services at the county level,
2) to establish capacity building to improve community health worker/ midwives and their work at the community level, and
3) to provide information that will empower women to make decisions and utilize health care services at the family level.