Community Health Development in the Nghi Sơn Area, Thanh Hóa, 2016–2017 (Phase 1)

Project Overview

• Field: Community health, behavior-change communication, primary healthcare, epidemiological surveillance, women's and children's health, alcohol-abuse and community mental-disorder prevention
• Duration: 08/2016 – 05/2017
• Funder: Monkey Forest Consulting, Canada
• Implementing agency: Center for Environmental and Health Studies (CEHS)
• Location: Tĩnh Gia district, Thanh Hóa province, across 14 communes, focused on 4 priority communes: Hải Yến, Mai Lâm, Nguyên Bình and Tĩnh Hải

Introduction

The rapid development of the Nghi Sơn area, along with land acquisition, resettlement and livelihood changes, increased certain health risks for the local population. The Community Health Development project supported livelihood recovery by improving community health, strengthening primary healthcare capacity, and improving access to essential health services.

The project focused on four priority health issues directly related to residents' living conditions and livelihoods: acute respiratory infections in children under 5, gynecological/reproductive tract infections in women, mental disorders in women, and alcohol abuse in men.

CEHS's Role

CEHS directly designed and implemented all technical components of the project: reviewing priority health issues, developing training materials, organizing training for district and commune health staff, village health workers and Women's Union staff, and providing technical support during implementation of community health-care activities. CEHS worked closely with NSRP, Tĩnh Gia District Health Center, the district hospital and commune health stations to organize screening, treatment counseling, behavior-change communication, and to develop and operate a community health surveillance system with 18 indicators across 16 health facilities.

Key Activities

• Reviewing and analyzing community health issues related to livelihood recovery and identifying 4 priority intervention areas.
• Developing 4 training-of-trainers (TOT) material sets and 4 training material sets for village health workers and Women's Union staff.
• Organizing training courses, refresher training and on-site technical support for district and commune health staff, village health workers and communication collaborators in 4 priority communes.
• Implementing behavior-change communication through household visits, group discussions, counseling at health stations, and a "Best Community Health Communicator" contest.
• Conducting gynecological examinations and treatment counseling for about 2,000 women; acute respiratory infection screening for over 2,000 children under 5; and mental health and alcohol-abuse screening.
• Developing, installing and supporting operation of a community health surveillance system with data-management software at 14 commune health stations, Tĩnh Gia District Health Center and the district general hospital.

Key Results

• Completed all project activities within 9 months, disbursing USD 324,272, equivalent to 98.6% of the approved budget.
• Trained 37 core trainers through 4 TOT courses and delivered 8 training courses to a total of 201 participant-turns of village health workers and Women's Union staff.
• Conducted gynecological examinations for about 2,000 women (22.5% infection rate) and screened 2,695 children under 5 (13.7% acute respiratory infection rate).
• Screened 817 women for mental health issues and 1,998 men for alcohol abuse.
• Conducted 6,250 household visits, 250 group discussions, and engaged 7,692 participant-turns in behavior-change communication activities.
• Built and operated a community health surveillance system with 18 indicators across 16 health facilities.