05/07/2024
BRINGING HEALTH CARE TO REMOTE COMMUNITIES: `
The Journey of the Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy
In early January 2023, Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy (RCRA) team visited a more remote and underserved community in Mahango subcounty, Kasese district. The residents of this community faced numerous challenges when it came to accessing quality healthcare. In those remote villages nestled deep in the mountains, accessing the healthcare is a challenge. The nearest health centres are hours away, and many residents struggle to afford the transportation. However, hope arrived in the form of a mobile clinic and backpack nurse model, a healthcare initiative aimed at reaching underserved communities. This is the story of how the mobile clinic and backpack nurses brought much needed medical services to the doorstep of those in need.
Setting up the mobile clinic: The mobile clinic was a collaborative effort between a local healthcare organization and RCRA with a team of dedicated medical professionals, equipped with medical supplies, equipment, and a team of doctors, nurse, and support staff, the mobile clinic set out on its mission to provide healthcare services to that underserved area in Mahango, Kasese.
Reaching the community: The mobile clinic team identified the most isolated and underserved community in the subcounty through making research around the community and basing on the available district health data. They organized outreach programs and spread the word about the upcoming visit. community health workers mostly termed as village health team (VHT’s) engaged in mobilizing people for the upcoming visit. The team also collaborated with local community health workers to ensure that the message reached every corner of the community.
Providing medical service: On the designated day, the mobile clinic arrived in the village, set up the temporary medical facility at a primary school ground. The team offered a range of services, including general checkups, vaccinations, basic laboratory tests, and health education sessions. Patients were seen on a first come, first serve basis, ensuring that everyone had an equal opportunity to receive medical attention. Those who didn’t make it to the temporary medical facility were reached out by the nurses termed as ‘’Backpack Nurses” (BPN) who carry out targeted door to door activities providing healthcare services to the people in their homes on consented and prior scheduled appointment for long-term family planning treatments.
Impact on the community: The mobile clinic and Backpack nurse model initiative had profound impact on the community. Many residents, who had previously struggled to access healthcare, now had the opportunity to receive medical attention without traveling long distances. The mobile clinic also provided a platform for health education, empowering individuals to take charge of their own wellbeing. The initiative not only improved the health outcomes of the community but also fostered a sense of trust and connection between the healthcare providers and residents.
RCRA has reached out to about 98,037 people in two districts for the past four years (2020-2024), in Kasese and Bunyangabu with sexual reproductive health and rights information (SRHR). This is done through several interventions employed for awareness raising and cross messaging, community mobilization and sensitization including door to door home visits by 36 community health workers and 52 peer educators running in 12 sub-counties and Backpack Nurses (PBNs), peer educators who specifically work through adolescents clubs in primary schools for age appropriate information, mobile outreach clinics, community dialogues and religious barazas and RCRA Adolescent Centre grounded in Rugendabara Town Council.
The mobile clinic Backpack nurse initiative provided to be a lifeline for remote communities, bringing health care services to their doorstep. By overcoming geographical barriers and providing much needed medical attention, the mobile clinic and BPN model played a crucial role in improving the health and well-being of underserved population.
