I think it is wonderful that you have idetified an existing program, a mandatory internship program, as a delivery mechanism to provide marginalized communities with increased access to health care. Have you thought more about how to get local, state, and national government to support this initiative? Do you think that other interns going through mandatory internships would have a similar attitude as you in using their expertise to help underserved areas? For those who might not share your enthusiasm, do you have ideas to provide incentives to motivate them to work with their communities? What are your ideas to ensure that the model set up is sustainable after the intern departs? Thank you for your entry! I think it is a great example of taking an existing program and maximizing its impact!
Dear Jessica. Many interns in my country's national youth service actually start out with high hopes about the one year although there are also fears of living in new environments, how to make money, and missing family. We have an initial 3 week orientation camp to introduce us to the program. A few intiatives such as a unicef in conjunction with some other bodies, organize a peer health education training on hiv/AIDS and adolescent reproductive health, there is also a road safety training, and most recently a training on millenium development goals. People are encouraged to implement the skills learned during that one year, but from one on one contact with my peers, many do not. only a few can sustain their initial enthusiasm, there is really no incentive to continue except those who see the advantage in the certificate awarded and that one year for us is usually a year where if you cannot get a well paying job, you while away your time shuttling between the place of you internship posting and home.
However there is huge potential in the population available to implement this program:young capable people who if given the right push can change their communities. th eabove programs may have the limitations i mentioned, because the entire target community is not really involved in the implementation, and so they aren't made to feel like stakeholders in the events of the year, however, i plan to apart from getting the permission of the state and local government meet with a cross section of the community, market women's association heads, the traditional rulers, the priests of the local parish, the heads of families, some nominees of the women themselves, and indigent health staff to involve them in the planning for the years program. We will tell them thet advantages, and how we need their input to affect their lives. We plan for them to act as our recruiters for every woman in the village to attend those critical health talks where we will establish our trust based relationship and encourage them to come for antenatal care.
For the doctors and othe rinterning health staff we will be using, the fact that there is a laid down plan for the year will serve as an encourage ment to get involved as usually the internship year is boring in a ruural area with limited activities, and very poor health seeking behaviour of the population so that you usually have few patients.
With this program, we plan to make the forthnightly health talks an event to look forward to. the doctor gets to coordinate the training of staff, the planning of the days events, and all the staff and women prepare the health education songs in their language, rehearse the role plays so that they want their family to come and see them "in action". The village leaders will be involved in opening the days events, and we expect that as the mothers and children come, it will improve the health seeking behaviour of their husbands the men in the long run.
With a ready population of patients, the doctors will get to practice their medical skill and very often will have to teach simple things to the local staff, a rush for any new doctor, and as is common in our culture without saying clients are often appreciative of their doctor's relationship and will often bring foodstuffs of various kind just to say thank you for being there.
As i said in my introduction to my idea, a new set of interns come in every 4 months, and so every present intern will have someone new to initiate into the scheme, show the prepared protocols, introduce to the village, and pass on what they have learned to. If the community is involved in the planning and implementation, and eventually start to enjoy the benefits of safer births, good antenatal care, access to free medication, and the presence of skilled health care providers, they will be willing to sustain the scheme, and encourage their local leaders to provide accomodation for new interns and will be receptive to them as they understand the importance of the service they provide.
I also plan that the state government should provide an additional stipend for financial renumeration every trimester an intern spends there, to encourage them and that they should recieve additional recommendation at the end of their internship year. Also as we plan to collect much needed statistical data, we are going to be helping not just the state government have accurate documentation of demographical statistics, but the federal government to plan in their budgeting for every state in which the project is carried out. We will also be helping to rebuild the place of primary healthcare and to encourage young interns who are healthworkers that working in rural areas can be fulfilling and can be paid for reducing the internal brain drain from our rural to urban areas.
thank you very much for you comment although it took me quite while to respond.It did help me look at other ways in which my idea can benefit all the parties involved and how it can keep running. This internship program has immense potential to change not just the face of antenatal care and improve maternal health but to raise health standards in my country. I believe it will, we just need to start from somewhere.
Comentarios
Onikepe,
I think it is wonderful that you have idetified an existing program, a mandatory internship program, as a delivery mechanism to provide marginalized communities with increased access to health care. Have you thought more about how to get local, state, and national government to support this initiative? Do you think that other interns going through mandatory internships would have a similar attitude as you in using their expertise to help underserved areas? For those who might not share your enthusiasm, do you have ideas to provide incentives to motivate them to work with their communities? What are your ideas to ensure that the model set up is sustainable after the intern departs? Thank you for your entry! I think it is a great example of taking an existing program and maximizing its impact!
Dear Jessica. Many interns in my country's national youth service actually start out with high hopes about the one year although there are also fears of living in new environments, how to make money, and missing family. We have an initial 3 week orientation camp to introduce us to the program. A few intiatives such as a unicef in conjunction with some other bodies, organize a peer health education training on hiv/AIDS and adolescent reproductive health, there is also a road safety training, and most recently a training on millenium development goals. People are encouraged to implement the skills learned during that one year, but from one on one contact with my peers, many do not. only a few can sustain their initial enthusiasm, there is really no incentive to continue except those who see the advantage in the certificate awarded and that one year for us is usually a year where if you cannot get a well paying job, you while away your time shuttling between the place of you internship posting and home.
However there is huge potential in the population available to implement this program:young capable people who if given the right push can change their communities. th eabove programs may have the limitations i mentioned, because the entire target community is not really involved in the implementation, and so they aren't made to feel like stakeholders in the events of the year, however, i plan to apart from getting the permission of the state and local government meet with a cross section of the community, market women's association heads, the traditional rulers, the priests of the local parish, the heads of families, some nominees of the women themselves, and indigent health staff to involve them in the planning for the years program. We will tell them thet advantages, and how we need their input to affect their lives. We plan for them to act as our recruiters for every woman in the village to attend those critical health talks where we will establish our trust based relationship and encourage them to come for antenatal care.
For the doctors and othe rinterning health staff we will be using, the fact that there is a laid down plan for the year will serve as an encourage ment to get involved as usually the internship year is boring in a ruural area with limited activities, and very poor health seeking behaviour of the population so that you usually have few patients.
With this program, we plan to make the forthnightly health talks an event to look forward to. the doctor gets to coordinate the training of staff, the planning of the days events, and all the staff and women prepare the health education songs in their language, rehearse the role plays so that they want their family to come and see them "in action". The village leaders will be involved in opening the days events, and we expect that as the mothers and children come, it will improve the health seeking behaviour of their husbands the men in the long run.
With a ready population of patients, the doctors will get to practice their medical skill and very often will have to teach simple things to the local staff, a rush for any new doctor, and as is common in our culture without saying clients are often appreciative of their doctor's relationship and will often bring foodstuffs of various kind just to say thank you for being there.
As i said in my introduction to my idea, a new set of interns come in every 4 months, and so every present intern will have someone new to initiate into the scheme, show the prepared protocols, introduce to the village, and pass on what they have learned to. If the community is involved in the planning and implementation, and eventually start to enjoy the benefits of safer births, good antenatal care, access to free medication, and the presence of skilled health care providers, they will be willing to sustain the scheme, and encourage their local leaders to provide accomodation for new interns and will be receptive to them as they understand the importance of the service they provide.
I also plan that the state government should provide an additional stipend for financial renumeration every trimester an intern spends there, to encourage them and that they should recieve additional recommendation at the end of their internship year. Also as we plan to collect much needed statistical data, we are going to be helping not just the state government have accurate documentation of demographical statistics, but the federal government to plan in their budgeting for every state in which the project is carried out. We will also be helping to rebuild the place of primary healthcare and to encourage young interns who are healthworkers that working in rural areas can be fulfilling and can be paid for reducing the internal brain drain from our rural to urban areas.
thank you very much for you comment although it took me quite while to respond.It did help me look at other ways in which my idea can benefit all the parties involved and how it can keep running. This internship program has immense potential to change not just the face of antenatal care and improve maternal health but to raise health standards in my country. I believe it will, we just need to start from somewhere.
Enviar un comentario nuevo