Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Community Empowerment in Health

last updated Jul 23, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Omni Med
Implementation Partner(s): 
United States Peace Corps, Ministry of Health, Brookings Institution, Center for Social Development at Washington University.
Legal Status: 
Private (not-for-profit)
Year Launched: 
2008
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor
Funders: 
United States AIDS for International Development (USAID)

Scale

Personnel Employed: 
<10
Number of Clients Served: 
30 trained per month, 700 trained thus far and maintained
Summary: 

Since March 2008, Omni Med has partnered with local health officials, the US Peace Corps, Volunteers for Prosperity, and local and transnational NGOs to train community health workers, called village health teams—VHTs, in the Mukono District of Uganda. These teams are comprised of local volunteers from the surrounding villages, who, once trained, provide valuable primary health care to the underserved population in the area.

Program goals/rationale: 

Mortality and morbidity rates in Uganda are among the world’s highest, with a life expectancy of only 52.72 years—the 4th lowest in the world. Easily preventable diseases such as malaria, HIV, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, and malnutrition ravage the population under five years old, resulting in an infant mortality rate that is the 33rd highest in the world. Across the country, only 42.7% of Ugandan parishes (townships) have access to a health facility. A large percentage of Uganda’s rural population is effectively isolated from any sort of health care whatsoever. Yet a large body of research has shown that the interventions that save the most lives are inexpensive to implement and are applied at the household level. These are the interventions emphasized in this program model.

Key program components: 

The program consists of the following components: a recurring week-long training course is offered to Village Health Teams (VHTs) (with 25-30 VHTs trained per course), preparing them to implement preventative and curative strategies such as malaria prevention and treatment through bed net usage and prompt diagnosis and referral, prevention, screening, and referral for HIV/AIDS, promotion of sexual and reproductive health to reduce birthrates and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, and provide maternal and child care, including immunization. The course is taught mostly by local trainers and other volunteers (the majority of whom are international) and is reinforced by focus groups, quarterly meetings, and follow-up home visits by VHTs accompanied by the volunteers. Most volunteers facilitate one full training course, a focus group or quarterly meeting, and completes multiple home visits during their stay, with over 900 completed thus far. The home visits and focus groups ensure the transfer of knowledge to those who will benefit most, and allows the program's managers to monitor the program’s efficacy.

This program is modeled after a similar initiative implementer by the government of Ugandan in Mpigi District from 2004-2007. The current program improves upon that model by enhancing the initial trainings, sending volunteers door-to-door with newly trained VHTs to reinforce their training, helping volunteers reach every local household by distributing laminated sheets with the 12 most important preventive measures, translated information into the local language (Luganda), and coordinating quarterly meetings and focus groups to reinforce training and maintain morale.

US volunteers cover training and program costs (with support from US Volunteers for Prosperity), while the MOH and US Peace Corps provide in-kind support.

Omni Med is also developing and implementing a prospective clinical trial to measure the program’s impact by comparing baseline health indices before and after VHT training and follow up home visits. Data collection and training in impact communities occurred in March-April 2011, with follow up data collection planned for 12/11. Results are expected in March 2012.

Program history: 

In an ongoing attempt to address high morbidity and mortality in Uganda, the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MOH), created a program in 2004 called Village Health Teams (VHTs). Using WHO and Global Fund funding, the MOH trained VHTs throughout the Mpigi district as a pilot program. This locally-based “horizontal” model was found to be very effective; during this period, the MOH reported a decreasing number of malaria cases and anemia levels among children under five years of age, increasing immunization rates, increasing antenatal care attendance, and increasing institutional deliveries across the district. Unfortunately, funding dried up in 2007, and the program failed as VHTs slowly lost motivation and incentive. Omni Med’s model revives the original government-based VHT program and rests on many of the same local structures. This program does not seek to create a VHT base anew, but rather inject the enthusiasm of well-prepared international volunteers into a locally-developed program.

Hide this

Need help?

Using the CHMI Programs Database

  • Browse: Browse the database by applying one or more filters to narrow your search by characteristics. Click the "x" to remove any of the filters you've selected. Click "reset search" to remove all filters and start over.
  • Search: Search the database for a specific program by typing a name or keyword into the search box.
  • Add: If the program you're looking for is not in the CHMI database, submit the program to the CHMI pipeline by clicking here to add a program profile.
  • Update: If you notice incorrect or outdated information, or would like to help complete a profile for a CHMI pipeline program, request a change by clicking here, or at the top of the program profile.

Have a question? Check the FAQs first. Don’t see your question? Contact us.