General Information

Definition

A WHO Collaborating Center is an institution designated by the Director-General of the World Health Organization to form part of an international collaborative network carrying out activities in support of the WHO's program at all levels. The global network is geared to nursing development (education, practice, research and leadership) for primary health care, and the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Clinical Training in Home Care Nursing is a unique component of this network.

Role of the WHO

The WHO's primary functions are as follows:

• to act as directing and coordinating authority on international health work

• to ensure valid and productive technical cooperation

• to promote research

An important aspect of the WHO's function is the generation and international transfer of valid information relating to health matters. The WHO serves as a clearinghouse, in which it absorbs, distills, synthesizes, and disseminates health information of many kinds. In addition to providing technical assistance to individual Member States (both developing and developed), the WHO also facilitates technical cooperation among them.

As a collaborating center, the FPB School of Nursing works with the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization to develop and disseminate research and training programs for home health care nurses. It also provides support to nurse researchers and others who conduct research on community-based and home-care programs.

Since becoming a collaborating center, FPB has brought nurses from various countries to Cleveland for intensive training and study in home health care, and it has sent its students overseas.

The school is one of only a few dozen collaborating centers for nursing worldwide, including ten (10) in the United States. Each collaborating center focuses on a different area of health care. The WHO uses collaborating centers as a way to extend its global reach in health care and build on existing strengths among member nations.

Functions of a Collaborating Center

1. Promotion of WHO policies, particularly "health for all"

2. Collection, collation, and dissemination of information

FPB Center Designation

The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing was designated as a WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Clinical Training in Home Care Nursing on August 10, 1993.

FPB Center Re-Designation

The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing was re-designated as a WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Clinical Training in Home Care Nursing in 1997. Each designation is for a four-year period. The Center was re-designated again in 2001, 2005, and most recently in 2009 through 2013.

FPB Center Terms of Reference (2009-2013)

• Strengthen the development of nursing human resources and other health care workers focus on concepts and practices in home care

• Develop educational programs for nurses and other health care workers who provide home care to individuals, families and communities

• Promote and conduct collaborative research to support home care in the US, PAHO, and internationally.