Leading the way to a connected and sustainable health ecosystem

Saskia De Gani shares insights on Cohort 5’s Sciana Challenge, her experience as a Fellow so far, and her passion for health literacy

Saskia De Gani leads the Careum Center for Health Literacy, where she undertakes research and transfers insights into education, practice, and policy. She has been responsible for the Swiss Health Literacy Study 2019-2021 and is active in regional, national, and international networks and working groups in this field. In particular, she has represented the principal investigator of Switzerland in the WHO Action Network M-POHL and is a member of the IHLA practice standard committee. Saskia is a member of Sciana's fifth cohort.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Sciana Network: How would you introduce yourself? Describe what you do and what you're working on currently.

Saskia De Gani: I have a doctorate in integrative human physiology, and I am an expert in health literacy. As a child, I was very keen on doing sports, and that's why I initially studied human movement sciences. I did a doctorate in human physiology, and after my doctorate, I realised that I do not only want to do research but especially want to transfer the knowledge in different kind of ways, such as education. So… I built and managed my own company in nutrition and exercise counselling. I am a person [who] loves challenges, so after a while, I needed a new challenge and started working at the Careum Foundation in Zurich in the field of health literacy.

Right from the beginning, this work and the whole field of health literacy inspired and fascinated me, and I am happy to have contributed to the development of the Careum Center for Health Literacy, which I [have been] leading since September 2020. Currently, we are a team of five young, extremely motivated, and hard-working ladies pursuing the vision to increase [the] health literacy of people and the system, to create impact, to push the issue, and to be known as the leading competence centre in this field in Switzerland.

SN: What influenced you to apply to join the Sciana Network, and what do you hope to learn from being a part of this programme?

SDG: As I work at the Careum Foundation, I knew about how Sciana works, and I was keen on experiencing the new challenge-based curriculum combined with a peer-to-peer learning experience, where you get the opportunity to work together [on] a greater issue. And to be honest, I was like, "Okay, maybe I am too young, looking at the mainly older Fellows [who have participated] so far." Nevertheless, I was motivated to join this network because I thought it would be a great chance to connect to all these international leaders in the broad field of health and health systems and create new ideas and solutions.

SN: Cohort 5's Sciana Challenge concerns building a connected and sustainable health ecosystem based on One Health principles. What have you learned in your group work so far that you feel is important for others to know?

SDG: We realised that even though we learned about One Health, we were not familiar with some of the definitions and first had to read about the background and the principles. When we started discussing our group work on a participatory strategy for health literacy and governance, we were like: "What do we mean by governance? What do we mean by participation? How could One Health Literacy be defined?" So, we really had to get a common understanding of these terms, which took us some time.

We have also been trying to get used to the situation [where] we do not know what the outcome is [and] to just create a process and be confident that the process itself can be a meaningful purpose, as we are very outcome-oriented and outcome-focused in our daily work. So, we had to get used to enjoying or trying to enjoy the uncertainty of this process. And this is [also] a great challenge of our society: we really have to learn to deal with fast changing situations in our society and the world and the corresponding uncertainties. 

SN: As part of your cohort's Sciana Challenge, there are several working groups with focus areas. Your focus area is One Health literacy. What is One Health literacy

SDG: Well, actually, we are working on that. But also on the understanding of what is health literacy and One Health. In my personal opinion, at the moment, it is not only important to understand what One Health is but really also thinking about how to implement it and getting it into action. So, to put it simple, when I go to the supermarket, for example, I know I need my diet to consist of some kind of protein to stay healthy. But at the same time, we have to also think about where the protein comes from. If it is [from an] animal, where does it come from? What was its life like? And what [does it] mean for the health of our planet?

So, the decision-making in our everyday [lives] really gets even more difficult than before. That also means we can not only make the individual more competent and have the expectation of he or she knowing everything, but we really need to also develop the system so that the choices and behaviours are easier and more sustainable for the humans, animals and the planet.

SN: How would you summarise your experience as a Sciana Fellow so far? Is there anything you can take back to your day-to-day work?

SDG: I am taking back the motivation to implement One Health in my daily work on health literacy, for example, in education, as I am also giving lectures to nursing staff and in nursing science. And I realised when I mentioned the aspect of planetary health or One Health, they [did] not know about it. So, if health professionals do not know about the issue, you cannot expect that anyone from the general population knows. So, we have to spread the mission and make people more aware of it.

What I also take back is the aspect of always bringing in or trying to get in different perspectives, being participatory in our daily work, connecting with others and being compassionate as a leader. 

SN: Is there anything else we haven't covered that you'd like to include?

SDG: I feel honoured to be part of this network and to get the chance to spend five days here at this very nice Schloss, and [for the opportunity to] work with very inspiring, like-minded people. But also enjoying the time together besides the structured meetings.