Investigating Global Health Policy
When surveys are both global and at the government level, a precise approach is necessary to ensure wide participation and high-quality data.
When we carried out the World Health Organization’s third global survey on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM), we optimized our approach so that the project would produce valuable insights for researchers and policymakers around the world. This included building a customized web survey portal for a smoother and more collaborative experience for the 200 participating member states.
This effort assisted the WHO in drafting a new global traditional medicine strategy for the period 2025–2034, and the resulting report and dashboards provide ongoing support for the many stakeholders involved in shaping TCIM policy.
What We Did
We ensured the data collection process was straightforward for participants and that the data was communicated intuitively through multiple interactive dashboards. We:
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Set up a custom survey portal for participation for almost 200 member states.
Provided support in over 7 languages.
Built two interactive PowerBI Dashboards: One global, and one detailing each member state’s capacity compared to its region.
Presented the dashboards at the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine.
Method Mix & Sampling Snapshot
Modes Used
- The survey was primarily online with a custom portal
- To provide further accessibility, some member states completed the survey by pdf
- Phone call and letter reminders in participant’s languages were used to encourage participation.
Sampling Frame
- 194 member states were invited to participate.
- The initial data collection took place from July 2023 to March 2024.
- Around 60% of member states participated in the initial data collection and the survey remains open for member states that wish to participate.
Data Quality
- During the data cleaning process, we were able to reach out to member states directly if we had any questions about their data.
Solution & Deliverables
The data from the global survey provides the World Health Organization with thorough insights into global policies surrounding traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine.
Analytics Techniques
Questionnaire Design
- The third global survey included 64 main questionnaire items, with several sub-questions. This was an increase from the second survey (39 questionnaire items) and the first survey (21 questionnaire items).
- Most questions were quantitative, with some qualitative questions
- Questions covered a variety of topics such as governance, patient satisfaction, availability of facilities, workforce, products and service delivery.
Analysis
- In line with the questionnaire design, the focus of the analysis was on the quantitative results.
- In our dashboard, we visualized the responses to each question, covering key statistics such as the percentages of member states that have key policies, the proportion of expenditures on TCIM, and the types of TCIM available.
- We followed the UN Accord to ensure data for each member state was reported in a way that respected each state’s sovereignty.
Customized Portal
Collecting data from policymakers in 200 member states meant adjusting our approach to meet the requirements of multiple stakeholders simultaneously, which we achieved by building a custom survey portal. Our portal includes advanced features allowing colleagues to send different parts of the survey to each other so different experts could be consulted. It also allowed member states to view the survey questions in a pdf, access supporting documents, and download their data. These features ensured all participants had the contextual information they needed to provide the right data and created a smooth survey experience.
Our portal application is designed to integrate with all major survey platforms such as Qualtrics, Survey Monkey, Alchemer, and QuestionPro.
Multilingual & Culturally Sensitive Support
The survey was disseminated in 7 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian), requiring our team to be responsive and agile in making changes and updates to the questionnaire and other translated documents. To encourage a strong completion rate, we also provided multilingual support to participants over the phone, answering questions and discussing the survey in their own language. We also were understanding of the different communication standards in different member states, reaching out to participants through professional LinkedIn and Whatsapp accounts as appropriate. Our efforts resulted in a high participation rate and strong support for the survey from the WHO member states.
We worked carefully as a team to make sure that all deliverables respected the sovereignty of each member state, taking into account differing norms, laws, and needs around measuring the data.
Power BI Dashboards for Research and Policymakers
The survey resulted in health policy data that required complex integration. We visualized the data in dashboards that allow policymakers and researchers to drill down into the data by region and member state, supporting informed decisions. We were careful to incorporate geopolitical considerations, using Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to ensure sovereign borders and territories were respected under the UN accords. Throughout the process, we worked with the WHO team to ensure the dashboards aligned with the goal of empowering member states to quickly assess and strengthen their health systems, leading to improved global health outcomes.
We presented the dashboards at the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Gujarat, India in August 2023. This gave us the opportunity to demonstrate its functionality and discuss the results in-depth.
WHO Global Report on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine 2024
In 2024, the WHO released a report based on the research findings. Our work is acknowledged on page 6.
WHO Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) Dashboard (Global Level) – Introduction
The dashboard introduction helps users understand the history of the survey and the extent of the data.
WHO Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) Dashboard (Global Level) – Physical Infrastructure: Availability of TCIM Facilities
The dashboard covers a wide variety of subjects, including covering policies and practices related to TCIM. This page notes the availability and sectors of TCIM Facilities.
Results & Impact
The survey findings allowed the WHO to publish a report on the current global state of TCIM, and the dashboards contribute to digital innovation that continuously supports improvements to global health.
Result Metrics
Reporting Timeline
- The results of the survey were available in time for the 78th World Health Assembly.
Dashboards
- The global dashboard allows users to view the aggregate results, with the ability to filter to understand variance by region and member state.
- The country profile dashboard allows users to view regional and member states specific capacity indicators.
Presentation
- We presented the dashboards at the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Gujarat, India in August 2023.
Report Publication
- Based on the survey results, the WHO published the WHO Global Report on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine 2024. This report examines the results from all three global TCIM surveys for additional insights.
