Methods We Use
Health promoters need supportive supervision to ensure ongoing training and support of the promoter so that he/she may provide effective care in their communities. In each community, AMOS physicians and nurses accompany promoters on home visits, restock the pharmacy at the clinic, and review patient charts with the promoter. They also obtain progress updates on community health goals, provide ongoing training modules, and answer any questions the promoters might have.
Evaluation and Monitoring
Each community makes a yearly plan with quantifiable goals. AMOS monitors progress toward these goals and assists communities in developing effective strategies to reach their health objectives. For example, a community might seek reduced diarrhea rates, improved nutrition for children under 5, or project-based goals such as installing water filters. Using the data gathered through the census & patient charting, AMOS can monitor important indicators such as disease prevalence and infant growth rate to evaluate the efficacy of each intervention.
Health promoters receive special training three times a year on topics including vital signs, wound care, medicine prescription, respiratory illnesses, growth monitoring, and obstetrics. The participatory training methods that AMOS uses are based on popular education concepts developed by Paulo Freire, using the promoters’ lived experiences as a starting point for developing new knowledge. The trainings are skills-based, ensuring competency in basic skills, and use of protocols in order to prevent maternal and child deaths.
Research at AMOS starts with the community. Using a methodology called “community-based participatory research” (CBPR), we seek to work with communities as partners and co-learners to build up their capacity so that the communities themselves participate in the selection of the research, collection and analysis of the data, and evaluation of the research. The goal is to understand a problem so that we can collectively take action to improve the health of communities. Examples of CBPR research projects conducted at AMOS include Photovoice, prevalence studies for anemia, and deworming.