Summary
In the rural and remote area where Nuru International works, the Healthcare Program has adopted a Community Health Worker (CHW) model to provide accurate disease education and prevention, and resources to adopt healthy behaviors. CHWs undergo an initial, comprehensive training, as well as follow-up trainings that are conducted by Nuru Field Staff that cover disease-specific topics like malaria, diarrheal diseases, and pneumonia. CHWs also learn how to facilitate conversations and conduct homevisits to teach community members how to keep their families disease free by making informed decisions for healthy lifestyles. During homevisits CHWs train on behaviors such as mosquito net usage, treating dirty water, using soap to wash hands and working with families to find ways to adopt these practices. They also sell commodities to make these behaviors easier, which currently include: soap, WaterGuard, Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs), and Moringa Leaf Nutritional Supplement. Our team is working to create a referral system and case-management services for CHWs to link households and local clinics. We are continuing to refine our CHW model and are collaborating with Nuru’s other program areas for best practices and cohesion. We are gearing up toward scaling to our second CHW unit over the course of 2011. -Last updated 06/07/11
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