Select People to be Trained on Health Issues

This brief article outlines a community-based communication strategy for addressing immunisation and other health issues in Ghana. In Mfantseman District, the Ghana Health Service is fostering the participation of community-based surveillance (CBS) volunteers in improving community health through a training course, refresher workshops, and quarterly meetings.

Interpersonal community to strengthen the capacity of CBS is the government's strategy. Specifically, 167 CBS workers at health centres in Anomabo, Saltpond, Dominase, Esseuhyia, and Otuam are being trained to promptly share information about diseases and conditions, especially epidemics, that are impacting their communities. The goal is to "equip the CBS with skills to use simple case definitions to detect priority diseases, to recognise significant health events, to record in community registers simple cases and to report to the sub-districts on monthly basis."

Strong government support in the form of funding is one element of this plan: The article notes that Dr. Philip Abu, Mfantseman District Director of the Ghana Health Service, has directed sub-districts to budget for quarterly meetings with the CBS "to ensure that people were selected from the communities and trained to handle petty health issues".

Perhaps more pivotal is expressing encouragement toward and appreciation for the efforts of the CBS. In one sense, participation itself can be motivating: Dr. Abu stresses that volunteers see their involvement in programmes such as meetings and in-service trainings as recognition of their services, which motivates them to do more. "Volunteers must be motivated more than any other cadre of workers, he said." Simple articulation of gratitude, as well as the provision of direct incentives, also seems to inspire continued involvement. At a January 2005 refresher workshop, Dr. Abu commended the CBS for their contribution to health delivery in the district, especially during the National Immunization Days (NIDs), and assured them that ID cards and an incentive package were being developed for them. The idea is that being acknowledged for doing important work is an impetus to keep doing it.

Thus, this news report suggests, the provision of various types of support for community-based health workers' efforts is one communication strategy for motivating them to stay involved in and mobilised for their work toward better health.