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Thursday, February 21, 2008
Description of Shaktishifa and the Community Health Network
I realized that a lot of people reading this blog (if anyone actually is) have no idea what Shaktishifa is, or why I am here. What follows is a description of the clinic, and the project I am working, the Community Health Network. It's a so-so write-up, but it's all I have for now
Shaktishifa
Community Health Network
Vision:
We envision a Hyderabad comprised of healthy families empowered to lead fulfilling
lives. Access to healthcare, education and basic infrastructure, provisions we consider basic human rights, will be guaranteed. The security of such rights will be ensured by educated, engaged and well-resourced communities across the city.
Mission:
Our mission at its core is to enable the urban poor to achieve greater self determination in promoting their communities’ health and well being. To this end, we will engage community participation to develop truly community-based healthcare.
We will promote community leadership at every level of a comprehensive approach
to healthcare which encompasses preventative, promotive, and curative
aspects. Moreover, we recognize that health is impacted by a constellation of factors, and to this end we will pursue socio-economic development in partnership
with the communities we serve.
Project Description:
The Community Health Network was established in 2007 to extend and complement
the existing activities of the Shaktishifa Health Foundation. Shaktishifa’s services
encompass a three tier system.
At the tertiary level, the foundation utilizes its extensive organizational networks to refer patients onto hospital based care not provided by the organization itself.
At the secondary level, Shaktishifa provides a full-spectrum of primary care services,including diagnostic treatment, lab testing, specialist referrals, etc.
The Community Health Network (CHN) comprises the primary level of services offered
by the foundation. A recent addition to the foundation, funded by a seed grant
from Concern India, the mission of the CHN office is to foster community based
health and development programmes in the localities served by Shaktishifa. Currently,
CHN primarily operates in two bastis, Dewarconda and Shoukatnagar,
comprising a population of 4000 individuals.
Health programmes encompass all levels of healthcare, including curative, preventive
and promotive. Domiciallary services are offered by mobile health teams which
travel directly to the communities we serve, and feature community involvement
through the use of women’s groups and community health workers, CHWs (who
work in partnership with the mobile health teams). Preventive services focus primarily on health education, and again feature significant community involvement
through the role of women’s groups and CHWs. The health education programme
consists of training about nutrition, childhood illness, chronic disease, environmental determinants of health, and various other pertinent topics. Finally, promotive programmes include general development initiatives, including income generation groups, environmental improvement and the like; once again, local involvement
is paramount, in the form of project focused community action groups.
At the core of every CHN program, there is an emphasis on developing self-sustaining
programs. Although we initially provide health services through our staff, we aim
to create self-sufficient health systems in the communities we serve within five
years of initiating activities in a given locality. After this point, we transition to a supportive role, after which we can move on to providing more intensive support
to additional communities, thereby increasing our impact.
Shaktishifa
Community Health Network
Vision:
We envision a Hyderabad comprised of healthy families empowered to lead fulfilling
lives. Access to healthcare, education and basic infrastructure, provisions we consider basic human rights, will be guaranteed. The security of such rights will be ensured by educated, engaged and well-resourced communities across the city.
Mission:
Our mission at its core is to enable the urban poor to achieve greater self determination in promoting their communities’ health and well being. To this end, we will engage community participation to develop truly community-based healthcare.
We will promote community leadership at every level of a comprehensive approach
to healthcare which encompasses preventative, promotive, and curative
aspects. Moreover, we recognize that health is impacted by a constellation of factors, and to this end we will pursue socio-economic development in partnership
with the communities we serve.
Project Description:
The Community Health Network was established in 2007 to extend and complement
the existing activities of the Shaktishifa Health Foundation. Shaktishifa’s services
encompass a three tier system.
At the tertiary level, the foundation utilizes its extensive organizational networks to refer patients onto hospital based care not provided by the organization itself.
At the secondary level, Shaktishifa provides a full-spectrum of primary care services,including diagnostic treatment, lab testing, specialist referrals, etc.
The Community Health Network (CHN) comprises the primary level of services offered
by the foundation. A recent addition to the foundation, funded by a seed grant
from Concern India, the mission of the CHN office is to foster community based
health and development programmes in the localities served by Shaktishifa. Currently,
CHN primarily operates in two bastis, Dewarconda and Shoukatnagar,
comprising a population of 4000 individuals.
Health programmes encompass all levels of healthcare, including curative, preventive
and promotive. Domiciallary services are offered by mobile health teams which
travel directly to the communities we serve, and feature community involvement
through the use of women’s groups and community health workers, CHWs (who
work in partnership with the mobile health teams). Preventive services focus primarily on health education, and again feature significant community involvement
through the role of women’s groups and CHWs. The health education programme
consists of training about nutrition, childhood illness, chronic disease, environmental determinants of health, and various other pertinent topics. Finally, promotive programmes include general development initiatives, including income generation groups, environmental improvement and the like; once again, local involvement
is paramount, in the form of project focused community action groups.
At the core of every CHN program, there is an emphasis on developing self-sustaining
programs. Although we initially provide health services through our staff, we aim
to create self-sufficient health systems in the communities we serve within five
years of initiating activities in a given locality. After this point, we transition to a supportive role, after which we can move on to providing more intensive support
to additional communities, thereby increasing our impact.
Snapshots
I thought I'd add some pictures from my Jamkhed trip. In order from first to last:
Ellora Caves
Gaggle of Indian school girls, Ellora Caves
Buddhist wannabe at the Ellora Caves
Ellora Caves
Village Hospitality
Two very confident men
Cow Mart! Only Rs 20,000. Photo taken at the weekly cattle market
Landscape around Jamkhed
Market Image
A bee eater at dusk
Classtime
Classtime
Ellora Caves
Gaggle of Indian school girls, Ellora Caves
Buddhist wannabe at the Ellora Caves
Ellora Caves
Village Hospitality
Two very confident men
Cow Mart! Only Rs 20,000. Photo taken at the weekly cattle market
Landscape around Jamkhed
Market Image
A bee eater at dusk
Classtime
Classtime
Small world....
It was bound to happen, but I wasn't expecting it so soon...I ran into a Macalester student last weekend. My alma mater is known for its internationalism, so it was hardly a surprise.
One of the world's top techno/trance DJs showed up in Hyderabad last Saturday. It's his first trip to Asia, and he comes to Hyderabad! I think somebody must have lied to him about Hyderabad's importance. I'm not a huge fan, and I had to leave for the airport at 4:30 on Sunday morning to catch a flight to Bombay but I've seen him with Mac friends in the States and it's probably the only time he'll ever show up here, so I figured I had to go.
It ended up being great fun, quite trashy, but in the best way possible. However, the connections made during the night were what made it truly remarkable. About halfway through the concert, we spotted a group of white people. Like any pair of dodgy Indian guys, we approached them, and introduced ourselves. Within about five minutes, I figured out that one of the girls, Alex, had gone to Macalester and that we shared common friends, that she knew of me, but we'd never met, and she didn't know I was in Hyderabad. Small world....
Towards the end of the concert, both my cousin and I, being friendly drunks, we ended up talking to anybody and everybody we could find, and eventually befriended two Nigerian guys, whom we hung out with till 4 in the morning, after which headed home.
Of course, it's India, and the randomness never ends. At 4:15 AM, about two miles from my house, the car breaks down as I'm driving. Normally it wouldn't be a cause for stress, but I had 15 minutes before I had to leave for my flight, so things got a bit hairy. Fortunately, our driver, Shoukat, was kind enough to pick my cousin and I up on his way to get the rest of my family, and there was a happy ending to the evening.
One of the world's top techno/trance DJs showed up in Hyderabad last Saturday. It's his first trip to Asia, and he comes to Hyderabad! I think somebody must have lied to him about Hyderabad's importance. I'm not a huge fan, and I had to leave for the airport at 4:30 on Sunday morning to catch a flight to Bombay but I've seen him with Mac friends in the States and it's probably the only time he'll ever show up here, so I figured I had to go.
It ended up being great fun, quite trashy, but in the best way possible. However, the connections made during the night were what made it truly remarkable. About halfway through the concert, we spotted a group of white people. Like any pair of dodgy Indian guys, we approached them, and introduced ourselves. Within about five minutes, I figured out that one of the girls, Alex, had gone to Macalester and that we shared common friends, that she knew of me, but we'd never met, and she didn't know I was in Hyderabad. Small world....
Towards the end of the concert, both my cousin and I, being friendly drunks, we ended up talking to anybody and everybody we could find, and eventually befriended two Nigerian guys, whom we hung out with till 4 in the morning, after which headed home.
Of course, it's India, and the randomness never ends. At 4:15 AM, about two miles from my house, the car breaks down as I'm driving. Normally it wouldn't be a cause for stress, but I had 15 minutes before I had to leave for my flight, so things got a bit hairy. Fortunately, our driver, Shoukat, was kind enough to pick my cousin and I up on his way to get the rest of my family, and there was a happy ending to the evening.
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