No fewer than 60 health professionals from different government health facilities registered with the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency, OYSHIA, were engaged in a two-day training titled –Masterclass on Strategic Communication, MASCOM – at the Plaza De Haruna Hotel in Oyo State. The event, hosted by OYSHIA and facilitated by the Training Directorate of PUNCH Media Foundation under its External Facing Programmes, was held on Monday, 18 and Tuesday, 19 September 2023.
MASCOM is an initiative conceived to enhance the communication skills of professionals across industries and sectors, with a particular focus on corporate communication. Consequently, the training at Oyo was targeted at improving the communication capabilities of health professionals working in public facilities affiliated with OYSHIA to the end that health outcomes are impacted positively within the State.
In the remark by the Executive Secretary of OYSHIA, Dr Olusola Akande, he noted that the organisation was experiencing some challenges with its public health facilities necessitating a training engagement to address the issues with utmost seriousness. He, therefore, expressed confidence in the capability of PMF not only to train participants on the theories of strategic communication but to impart them with the passion that will engender a change of narrative.
The Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Unit at the Ogun State Ministry of Health, Dr Festus Adetonwa, who took the session on Building Stronger Connections with Patients for Improved Health Outcomes, maintained that health professionals must keep a therapeutic, patient-centric relationship with their patients. He argued that this is the only relationship that guarantees a positive health outcome for patients. Similarly, the Chairman/CEO of God’s Hopefuls Global Ventures Ltd, Mr Deji Ajayi, who facilitated the session on Relationship Management and the Health Professional, indicated that participants should consciously cultivate healthy relationships with colleagues as it enhances productivity.
Taking the conversation further, the Chief Executive Officer, DOSA DANE Consults, Mr Siyanbola Adegoke, charged participants to abide by the ethical codes of their profession. He added that this will make them stay committed to humanity and stakeholders in the health sector, as well as fulfill the purpose of their engagement in healthcare delivery. On how to abide by the ethical codes of the medical profession, Mr Adegoke charged participants to learn them by heart and resort to them as often as the need arises.
The Head of the Training Directorate of PMF, Mr Dele Aina, who facilitated two separate sessions at the training – Stimulating Emotional Intelligence and Time and Priority Management – stressed that time as a resource cannot be stored and requires proper planning to make the best use of it. He, therefore, charged participants to be intentional about how they plan their lives as health professionals. Similarly, he underscored the need for participants to develop their emotional intelligence as he adjudged it to be superior to the intelligence quotient.
The training also featured break-out sessions facilitated by a Programme Officer, Mr Moses Ademola and a Communications Associate, Mrs Blessing Oduniyi, both from PMF. The sessions provided participants with a more intimate setting for networking while collaboratively addressing real-world challenges faced in the medical profession. Also, to address the curiosity of participants seeking to understand the operations and focus areas of the Foundation, a session, About PUNCH Media Foundation was taken by the Head of Finance and Administration at PMF, Mr Gbenga Bambeke.
To wrap up, the Head of Programmes and Research at PMF, Ms Rebecca Erureh, applauded everyone who was part of the programme. From the participants to the host, the PMF team, and the resource persons. She hoped to get positive feedback following the training as she charged participants to apply the learnings to their work. Participants also expressed their satisfaction with the quality of the training and registered their commitments to undertake their duties reflecting the knowledge gained.
