Community-based health clubs have been suggested as a novel way of improving health and hygiene especially in settings with uneven distribution of health care facilities and inaccessibility to health care services that limit communities’ awareness of the diseases, health and hygiene management.
Cholera has been occurring in various parts of the country. People who visit these affected areas and do not take preventive measures against the disease are likely to contract the disease; suffer from Cholera and spread the disease to other areas where there is no Cholera. There is a great need to practice personal and environmental hygiene at all times.
However, with the current scenario of the economic melt down, little has been done to empower communities to practice preventive measures through health education despite its central role in controlling outbreaks and improving the quality of preventive services.
Despite the advances in the clinical management of diseases, health systems in most parts of the world, especially in low-income and middle-income communities where patients cannot afford the care of associated diarrheal diseases, are still struggling to diagnose and manage Cholera.
Such communities suffer and succumb to various complications would otherwise be prevented or delayed with early diagnosis, proper clinical management and appropriate environmental hygiene.
Community-based health clubs are a component of the preventive model that empathizes the need for empowering and preparing individuals in communities to control and prevent communicable diseases.
In control and prevention of Cholera, health education towards preventive measures empowers communities to make day-to-day decisions on their own environs and live healthy lifestyles.
This enables communities to actively participate in the control and preventive activities of the disease based on health education and various skills to achieve targets of disease epidemiology patterns, prevent and or delay the onset and complications and thus preserve quality of life. This is associated with improvements in behaviour change, environmental and food hygiene practices.
There is undoubted evidence that community health clubs approaches in health delivery empowers communities to practice maximum hygiene and reduce clinic visits, by using the various supportive structures in communities such as families, traditional leaders, peers, lay health workers, community -based and faith-based organizations to deliver convenient, affordable, accessible and effective services.
This creates an integrated health care system that emphasises participation and localisation of services close to communities rather than in hospital or clinic; promotes community ownership of the health responsibilities and identifies and control the decision making-with task shifting from physicians or nurses to lay cadres.
Community-based health club provide an understanding of the socially specific and community-centric components of health and wellness as integral attributes to the holistic and long term prevention of communicable diseases with associated complications and can contribute to eradication of resistance to change within communities-enhancing community-centred outcomes, enabling individuals acceptability and ultimately lead to improved community engagement and satisfaction.
Community-based health clubs provide health behavioral interventions through group-based approaches and emphasise the localisation of health activities to individual communities rather than institutions.
Community-based health club give communities opportunities to share personal experiences of control and prevention of diarrheal diseases through participatory health and hygiene education practices. Community health clubs improve awareness of healthy living practices.
The need for proper disposal of human excreta, proper handwashing practices, food hygiene and provision of adequate safe water supplies and disease surveillance are generally highlighted in health education sessions. Community health club offer sufficient patient-health worker interaction time thereby creating rapport. The clubs create more time for participants to interact, consult and have extensive health education with health workers, which they can never get at the health facilities.
The shortages in staff and the high patient-health worker ratio at health facilities limits time of interaction with health workers dedicated to explain the preventive plan for every individual community members.
Health club improve awareness of healthy living practices. Communities in Cholera prone areas need health education and information. Community-centric clubs raises awareness on healthy living practices towards performing self initiated preventive activities.
It can not be overemphasised the need for having community-based health clubs as they promote communities’ health education towards control and prevention of communicable diseases. The ability to share experiences among community members improve individual members ‘ awareness of healthy living practices and the increased health worker-participant interaction time contributes heavily to the capacity-building for hygiene practices among communities. Leave noone and no place behind. Plan with them. Implement with and Evaluate with them. It doesn’t not only work in politics.
By Morgen Makombo Sikwila
MSc Peace and Governance
BSc Counselling
Diploma in Environmental Health
Certificate in Marketing Management:
morgensikwilam@gmail.com (0772823282)
