This summer we oficially launched the PCI Academy with our inaugural online NCD course, in partnership with UNHCR. We now hear feedback directly from some of the primary healthcare workers who have completed the course.
Dr. Bashir Dirie Jama from Somaliland, Dr Happy Paulianne Mwete from Burundi, Dr Sila Monthe from Kenya and Edward Vukoni from Uganda all work in refugee settings and were participants in our blended ‘Management of NCDs’ course. Over the past few months they have been working through the online modules, sharing experience and discussing challenges in the live workshops and posting questions in the virtual community of practice or WhatsApp groups. And of course leading cascade training with colleagues.
“I especially liked the focus in the course on leadership & management, and M&E. The workshops were refreshing, especially the case management, we shared experiences between countries. We gained more understanding. I recommend more of these. I have now carried out cascade training with doctors, health officers, nurses, midwives and community health workers. I followed up with some health workers at work and have seen them measuring blood pressure accurately, while some of them provided health education to diabetic cases. I am glad that my trainees have gained knowledge and skills and applied it to their patients. Pictured here is one of the nurses in our team demonstrating a practical skill during cascade training” (Bashir)
“The clinical skills we learnt on the course were useful and helped get me up-to-date in my knowledge of NCDs. But what interested me more was the management: the monitoring, the evaluation. That was the part that we were not doing so much in the camp. We didn’t have any action plans. We didn’t have meetings where we sat together as a team, the health team, to see how we are doing in the management, and the prevention and the follow-up of NCDs. We also need to find time to focus more on working with community leaders. And introduce them to prevention of NCDs, to see what their part is, and see how we can work together in the management of NCDs. I work with 16 nurses and will be doing cascade training with all of them. We will spend some time on the knowledge in the Clinical Guides and then we will have time to together to learn more about the monitoring, the evaluation, developing the action plans.” (Happy – pictured here during a consultation with a patient)
“It is a great idea to cascade the knowledge to colleagues. I already felt this was going to be my approach to share the knowledge with my team in the field locations since not all of us have the opportunity to train. I supervise in 12 facilities with many clinical staff and so one person per facility will be the focal point: 12 Clinical Officers in total. Cascade training went well. I got on board our 12 Clinical Officers and we will be supporting onsite mentorship to the clinic teams. One of the Officers, Samuel, is pictured here at an outreach group giving health education on lifestyle modification to fight NCDs.” (Edward)
“NCDs are a major concern for us and proper management is crucial as we don’t get a chance to refer NCD cases as they are usually last on the priority list. Priorities are usually obstetrics and paediatrics. Once NCDs get to complications it’s hard to refer them. So, if we can mange them well here then that will be lifesaving for some people. I took the guidelines from Module 1 and started using and modifying these straight away for my setting with the drugs we had available. Joining the live workshop with people from other countries and refugee settings was eye opening. I thought some problems were unique to us. Sharing ideas and solutions was so helpful.” (Sila)
Find out more about the PCI Academy here.