•
Collaboration with Constellation to pilot the appreciative learning technique “Stimulate, Appreciate, Learn, Transfer” (SALT) support groups in five villages; SALT groups promote community-developed and community-driven initiatives that empower patients to undertake collective action to better understand and address their health status.
Shimla - MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child
MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child served as the local HealthRise partner in the district of Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh, India. Among the challenges that individuals and the health system in Shimla must address in the search for and provision of high-quality care for non-communicable disease are an overburdened public health system that struggles to provide sufficient human resources and equipment for confirmatory diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and diabetes, distrust in the public health system, and seasonal inclement weather that prevents individuals from accessing health facilities and impedes community-based health workers’ ability to contact and support patients. MAMTA’s HealthRise interventions included the following efforts and activities: •
•
•
Hosting screening camps aimed at identifying individuals who may suffer from hypertension and diabetes without being aware of their condition, in addition to providing education and counseling for the general population on non-communicable diseases. The development of e-clinics, in partnership with local health facilities and the Indira Gandhi Medical College, to provide virtual consultations using Skype. These consultations allowed patients to access specialty care that may not have been otherwise available. Facilitation of community support groups that brought individuals with hypertension and diabetes together with outreach workers to discuss experiences, challenges, and advice related to disease management. This included SALT groups in 14 villages aimed at encouraging community-driven collective action in combating diabetes and hypertension, often focusing on lifestyle changes such as diet, physical exercise, and adherence to medication and treatment plans.
South Africa uMgungundlovu - Expectra Health Solutions
Expectra Health Solutions conducted HealthRise activities in the uMgungundlovu district of the KwaZuluNatal Province in South Africa. Specifically, interventions were carried out in the three sub-districts of Msunduzi, uMshwathi, and Mkhambathini. In addition to hypertension and diabetes, other significant health challenges in this area include HIV and tuberculosis – the latter is the leading cause of death in uMgungundlovu. Traveling long distances is often required to visit health facilities, which contributes to missed appointments. This can be compounded by a patient’s inability to afford transport to a health facility. Poor adherence to care programs and prescribed medications are also challenges faced in this region. Expectra’s intervention program largely focused on the following areas: 17
