H6 Health management
Background
The health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is set to be providing guidance to ensure that no one is left behind in the progresses towards sustainable and equitable health. To achieve this, a coherent and logical approach is required.
Ebola Awareness – Liberia 2014
Action10 supported the IDEFOCS Ebola awareness campaign in Monrovia ghettos with information by senior expert health advisers and funding.
Covid19 Awareness, 2019 – 2021
Background & findings
According to Moore, A., Lipsitch, M., Barry J., and Osterholm, M. (April 30, 2020) the coronavirus pandemic is likely to last as long as two years and won’t be controlled until about two-thirds of the world’s population is immune. Because of its ability to spread from people who don’t appear to be ill, the virus may be harder to control than influenza, the cause of most pandemics in recent history. People may actually be at their most infectious before symptoms appear, according to the authors.
After locking down billions of people around the world to minimize its spread through countries, governments are in May cautiously allowing businesses and public places to reopen. Yet according to Moore, A., Lipsitch, M., Barry J., and Osterholm, M. (April 30, 2020) the coronavirus pandemic is likely to continue in waves that could last beyond 2022.
Reference
Kristine A. Moore, Marc Lipsitch, John M. Barry, and Michael T. Osterholm (2020) COVID-19: The CIDRAP Viewpoint Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota April 30th, 2020 https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/downloads/cidrap-covid19-viewpoint-part1.pdf
Knowledge sharing
HR&S Recommendation
Despite the challenges, or actually due to the challenges, it is necessary to stay strong and focused. We must all support each other, educate ourselves and others about FACTS and avoid rumors. Seek evidence before accepting a statement. Do not panic, then we may act in a way that increases the problems. For HR&S it means to continue with what we are doing, as this is something we strongly believe in despite challenges, while adapting our activities to the new reality, thus limit the spread of COVID-19, take care of those already infected, while keeping our businesses going.
Activity
Information message about the COVID-19 in March.
By Anna Ågren MD, PhD & Åsa Schlyter MD, HR&S expert advisers, Stockholm, Sweden.
A short message was shared by the HR&S Expert advisers on 28 March 2020, to inform all our partners and RISE Centres.
Message
The COVID-19 virus (the coronavirus) is very contagious and presents serious issues for the elderly. It may be lethal to many of us, but in particular to people aged 70 years and older. Symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to influenza. Symptoms include fever, rhinitis, sore throat, coughing, and difficulty breathing. Some people get no or very mild symptoms but they can still spread the disease. Difficulty breathing is a sign of possible pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention.
If you follow these recommendations you will help prevent spreading the virus and save lives.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water.
- Don´t visit anybody if you have a fever and/or are coughing.
- Avoid crowds of people.
- Visit as few people as possible – stay at home if you can.
- Keep your distance to people – stand two meters apart.
- Do not hug or touch others in general and in particular old people.
Liberia Campaign
HR&S – Action10 supported the HR&S Coaches Covid19 awareness campaign in Little Bassa during 2020 with information by HR&S senior expert health advisers and with funding.
Home businesses, mobile money, and special delivery
HR&S proposal is to support home businesses. Thus our business owners add one component to their business offer. They add delivery to the customer. The customer will get the product delivered outside her home, and HR&S RISE Centres are in charge of the delivery system. The customer pays and place the order through mobile money, and we develop an app that shares the products available. We need the authorities’ approval to have delivery motorbikes moving around. Coordination and accountability are ensured through our RISE Centres.
Trauma counselling – Liberia 2020
HR&S – Action10 supported the HR&S Coaches Covid19 awareness campaign in Little Bassa with information by HR&S senior expert health advisers and with funding.
Background & findings
It is generally agreed that many are living with mental illness in Liberia. Still Liberia suffers from limited medical services for people with mental health disorders.
Vision & mission
HR&S has been working with IDEFOCS since 2013 targeting the re-integration of former child soldiers and women who went with fighting forces. We run ghetto interventions together which provides mental and physical support. We are also managing a ghetto survey to know how the ghetto dwellers would like change their lives. As a result of the survey have we bought farm land and build a reintegration house in Little Bassa.
We are now, since 2019 launching a trauma counselling programme to complement our previous activities. Our vision is that mental care shall be supported as much as medical care in Liberia, and that any related stigma is overcome. We are reaching out to potential partners.
Programme
An HR&S team of trauma counselling professionals in Sweden will educate and coach a group of local mental health care providers in Liberia. The education will be on-line and addressing basic mental care. The training will combine Swedish expertise and practice with Liberian cultural traditions and values. The team of trauma counselling professionals has therefore been strengthened by Swedish citizens with Liberian origin. Moreover, will we benefit from findings generating in the “bench treatment programme” that has shown to be successful in Zimbabwe and from MSF experiences network in Liberia.
The HR&S team shall then be supervising and supporting the trained local team of mental health care provides when offering basic care at our Support centres in Painsville and Buchanan. We will target former child soldiers, women associated with fighting forces and others suffering from the cruelties of the past war. We will have “counselling benches” where people can sit down and discuss, combined with visits in the ghettos.
Our local mental health care providers in Liberia shall know how to interact with our clients, with the families and the communities while building awareness about mental health. We shall help our clients to understand mental health conditions and encourage adherence to treatment.
Related initiatives
Zimbabwe
The friendship bench improves depression and PTSD provided by lay health workers in communities. https://www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org
The friendship bench foundation also offers a training and collaboration scheme if one thinks it could be a good approach to implement. https://www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org/collaboration
Liberia
Dr Harris, connection to be established.
Output
Mr. Giacomo DENTONI, Action10 volunteer staff, held a knowldege sharing on-line seminar for partners and coaches in April 2021.
Logistics
One counsellor treats four clients per day, one hour for each client, four days a week. One day a week the counsellor meets with her/his supervisor.
Each supervisor has four counsellors. One supervisor has a one-day session with each counsellor per week.
The counsellors and supervisors benefit from monthly on-line coaching from the support team in Sweden.
Each client takes eight sessions. One session per week. Thereafter a decision is made whether eight more sessions would be beneficial. Thus each client will remain in the programme two months or four months.
Thus four counsellors and one supervisor manages 16 times 4 clients per week (62). Per two months or four. We thus assume that we can treat 150 clients per year with this team of five persons. The counsellors and supervisor are members of our local team and netowk in Liberia. We may appoint coaching team members in Sweden for two months minimum and preferably longer.
Long term- ambition
Our long-term our ambition is to set up a trauma counselling training school, that provides two years of education.
Social enterpise model
HR&S claims that social enterprising is the only method to ensure sustainability. The start-up is done through international coaching and with start-up loan and the long-term management is through local social enterprising.
We assume that we can treat 150 clients per year with a team of five persons (four counsellors and one supervisor).
Start-up capital
We seek start-up loans through crowd-funding.
Income
The clients pay for the services.
We seek support from the Liberian authoroties.