| Community Monitoring in Health Resources for the Practitioner |
Building Block Three: Understanding Community Realities- Developing the Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile
The Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile can be an important building block in the process of conducting Community Monitoring. This profile should be used by the facilitators and the community team members to familiarise themselves before they start with the monitoring process. The village health profile will also help in comparing the changes that will be brought about after the community monitoring process. The expected changes are improvement in services, increased utilisation of government services and decrease in health related expenditure.
What is the Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile – The Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile is a summary of the key health related information of the village. It is generated through meetings with community, discussions with some of persons who have specific health problems and also by conducting a walk through the village. The information is summarized through a a Village/Neighbourhood Health Map and Village Health Information Summary Sheet. The steps for generating a village health map and the VHIS Sheet are given below.
How to Develop Health Map of a village - The health mapping exercise is to be done n order understand the broad lay of the village/ neighbourhood so that the spatial issues related to access of services can be understood. The map gives an idea about which area is isolated, which area is further from the clinic and so on. The map also provides information about the household and individuals with different health problems. This mapping can identify who could be supportive neighbours, if neighbourhood support is necessary. This exercise will help to reach out the household for individual interview also this will help us to learn that how many households had health related problem in last one year.
The village health map can easily be drawn during a village/ neighbourhood meeting where members from the community are present. It can be a little difficult to maintain order if the number of participants exceeds 40 or 50.
Materials and supplies needed for the exercise
The following steps can be followed during mapping exercise
A. Explain the purpose of the Activity
The facilitators ask the group whether they know why they have all gathered.
Briefs the group about the decisions taken during the last meeting and takes permission to start the information gathering activities.
B. Starting Off - Drawing the Map of the Village
C. Identifying the Cases, Problems and Resources
Can we remember the households which have had illnesses/health problems in the last one year? Let’s mark those houses (Try to elicit information about chronic communicable diseases). What were the problems? (one can use different colours for different diseases). Ask which are the household had delivery in last one year. Where do people go for treatment? What are the main problems people face in seeking treatment? Are there some individuals or families in the neighbourhood who help others in cases of illness and disease? Are there any stories?
D. Winding Up
Now we know a lot about what happens around illness care in the village. If any of you thinks there is some information that is left out please get in touch with us. We will also meet for some other discussions in the next couple of days. Let’s see if we can all get together and plan to make people’s health better. Thank you all for coming.
Time frame - The mapping gives us a clear picture of cases/diseases. It is a very engaging and participatory exercise and many require more than two hours. The participants must be briefed and mentally prepared about the timings.
Reporting/Recording -
Output-
Village map with names and residences
Important service delivery places in relationship with the village – within the village outside the village in which direction – formal and informal
Places with health related resources – vehicle for transportation, house of nurse (please write local community person who works as health mediator)
How to Develop a Village Health Summary Sheet - The Village Health Summary Sheet is a collation of essential demographic and health information of the village. The information is generated through existing records, the discussion during the village health mapping meeting and through individual interviews with some persons with specific health problems. Some of the information included in the Village Health Summary Sheet could be:
What is the Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile – The Village/ Neighbourhood Health Profile is a summary of the key health related information of the village. It is generated through meetings with community, discussions with some of persons who have specific health problems and also by conducting a walk through the village. The information is summarized through a a Village/Neighbourhood Health Map and Village Health Information Summary Sheet. The steps for generating a village health map and the VHIS Sheet are given below.
How to Develop Health Map of a village - The health mapping exercise is to be done n order understand the broad lay of the village/ neighbourhood so that the spatial issues related to access of services can be understood. The map gives an idea about which area is isolated, which area is further from the clinic and so on. The map also provides information about the household and individuals with different health problems. This mapping can identify who could be supportive neighbours, if neighbourhood support is necessary. This exercise will help to reach out the household for individual interview also this will help us to learn that how many households had health related problem in last one year.
The village health map can easily be drawn during a village/ neighbourhood meeting where members from the community are present. It can be a little difficult to maintain order if the number of participants exceeds 40 or 50.
Materials and supplies needed for the exercise
- Coloured powder of different colours
- Chart paper and coloured markers
- Camera
The following steps can be followed during mapping exercise
A. Explain the purpose of the Activity
The facilitators ask the group whether they know why they have all gathered.
Briefs the group about the decisions taken during the last meeting and takes permission to start the information gathering activities.
B. Starting Off - Drawing the Map of the Village
- Can any of you make a map of your village? Lets try.
- Any volunteers ? Lets first start by marking the boundaries – First identify where is north, south, east and west, mark it. Now what’s to the North? Let’s draw it. What’s to the south - lets draw it and so on to first mark the boundaries of the village. Where are the fields - Where are the houses? Any important roads? Any other landmarks that we would like to put up? (different items are to be marked with different colours.) Now lets start marking the neighbourhoods and lanes? Why don’t people from different neigbourhoods mark their own area? So is this how our village looks?
C. Identifying the Cases, Problems and Resources
Can we remember the households which have had illnesses/health problems in the last one year? Let’s mark those houses (Try to elicit information about chronic communicable diseases). What were the problems? (one can use different colours for different diseases). Ask which are the household had delivery in last one year. Where do people go for treatment? What are the main problems people face in seeking treatment? Are there some individuals or families in the neighbourhood who help others in cases of illness and disease? Are there any stories?
D. Winding Up
Now we know a lot about what happens around illness care in the village. If any of you thinks there is some information that is left out please get in touch with us. We will also meet for some other discussions in the next couple of days. Let’s see if we can all get together and plan to make people’s health better. Thank you all for coming.
Time frame - The mapping gives us a clear picture of cases/diseases. It is a very engaging and participatory exercise and many require more than two hours. The participants must be briefed and mentally prepared about the timings.
Reporting/Recording -
- Team of facilitators three or more. While two or three are involved in asking questions and getting the map made one person should record the verbal answers to the different questions , as well as the non verbal communication going on. The report could include
- Names of participants
- Time, date and place
- Responses to different queries (with non verbal messages) in brackets
- Facilitators and volunteers
- The map that has been drawn on the group will have to be copied onto chart papers with coloured markers. The veracity of the copy has to be attested by the volunteers.
Output-
Village map with names and residences
- deliveries during the last year- home and hospital, complicated
Important service delivery places in relationship with the village – within the village outside the village in which direction – formal and informal
Places with health related resources – vehicle for transportation, house of nurse (please write local community person who works as health mediator)
How to Develop a Village Health Summary Sheet - The Village Health Summary Sheet is a collation of essential demographic and health information of the village. The information is generated through existing records, the discussion during the village health mapping meeting and through individual interviews with some persons with specific health problems. Some of the information included in the Village Health Summary Sheet could be:
- Population – break-up with male and female
- Number of households
- Information around – number of adolescents girls, infant / children below the age of five years, persons over the age of 75years or any other specific population group.
- Information around maternal health - number of deliveries during the year, place of delivery.
- Information about health related facilities available in the village – like source of drinking water, sanitation system, health clinics, etc.
- Information around key illness and their treatment patterns.
- Main problems faced by the community in accessing health services.
