Training

'Rural areas where majority of the African population reside are worst hit. One of the innovative approaches currently being implemented globally to tackle the health workforce shortage is task shifting which has been described by the World Health Organization as a process whereby specific tasks are moved where applicable to health workers with shorter training and fewer qualifications thereby ensuring a more efficient use of existing human resources and ease bottlenecks in service.’

Training indigenous community health workers is ongoing and undertaken at a clinic level.  Much teaching in Africa is didactic, classroom-based in a college setting with very little practical experience.  Workers report as much as 50% of what is taught has little relevance to everyday tasks at the community clinic level.  With courses taking up to three years the certificate gained is often used as a ticket to move from where workers are so desperately needed, (rural resource-poor areas) to better served urban centres.
 
New Foundations believes that short course training of Community Health Workers is preferable and this teaching is most effective when delivered at the local level with a strong experiential component.
 
Our clinics are remote and resource-poor.  To train at this level the approach must be innovative.  We use solar powered satellite internet and e-learning centres within the clinic to deliver bespoke and relevant interactive training in conjunction with a clinical based component led by senior workers.

The course is part composite with the internationally accredited ICATT (Integrated Childhood Ilness Computerised and Adaptation Training Tool), and the ICMI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness - World Health Association).  New Foundations has produced an interactive modular based teaching curriculum that uses these two resources with bespoke video, written and interactive problem based learning.  The course is delivered at the local clinic level as exposure to patients, practical skill acquisition and examination technique is a vital part of the training.

Assessement is both clinical and academic.
 
Light touch communications such as satellite allow training to be delivered to even the most remote areas with reliable logistics and all the innovation available in a web based and downloadable stand alone package. This allows learning to be done at the students own pace, applying problem based learning and in a setting that gives direct relevance to the training.

 
Following completion of the courses the worker remains closely mentored both locally and with ongoing remote training that motivates and challenges the worker to remain both accountable and engaged as a member of a team.
 

Mission for Vision UK.

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