Email resume and cover letter to: Jennifer@globalbrigades.org
Application deadline: April 15, 2012
Position:
- Patient Referral program lead and Community Health Workers program coordinator
- Contract dates: May 28, 2012 – August 1, 2013
Program descriptions
Patient Referral program
The Patient Referral (PR) program promotes sustainability of Global Brigades programs by ensuring that our patients receive necessary care at all times. This program assists with necessary medical care that falls outside the scope of brigades and facilitates the entire process of administering this care.
On a Medical Brigade, Global Brigades physicians and student volunteers administer basic health care services but sometimes the needs some community members cannot be met and they are referred to a local clinic or hospital to receive further care. Depending on the outcomes of these doctor visits, the Patient Referral team determines if a case needs to be opened for the patient to achieve further care. From this point on, the Patient Referral program works closely with university groups to actively seek out partnership with local hospitals and other NGOs to obtain consultations, surgeries, and medication at reduced costs. The funding for each patient’s care comes from dedicated student groups who wish to help patients they may have met while on their brigade. Previous cases have included patients who needed long-term medication, surgery, or a transplant.
Community Health Workers program
The Community Health Workers (CHW) program is a supplemental program of Global Brigades that strives to bring the power of health care into the hands of the community members themselves. The CHW program promotes sustainability by offering intensive health worker training courses to volunteers within the communities we serve. The Community Health Workers program is a vital part to our holistic model as it sets up a reliable exit strategy for our programs. We strive to empower community members to maintain consistent and local health care in their communities so that they may become a self-sustained working system after Global Brigades leaves. This program is focuses on preventative measures, health promotion, and disease prevention. The goal is to empower local community members to maintain consistent, local healthcare in between brigade seasons through training and educational means. The program allows for further sustainability and strives to ensure that the good we do on Medical Brigades is being perpetuated. We take the CHWs through a full course through which they are educated on first aid and CPR, emergency response, wound care, reproductive health, disease transmission and prevention, sanitation and hygiene practices, just to name a few. At the end of their training, the CHWs receive supplies and materials to begin serving their community. These volunteers are certified and recognized by the Honduras Ministry of Health as local health promoters. By educating local community volunteers, we are not only promoting a consistent level of healthcare but also community leadership, which has proven to be very beneficial in the communities.
Position description
The position of the Patient Referral (PR) program lead and the Community Health Workers (CHW) coordinator combines a principle role within these two programs that allows a single person to hold a heavy hand in sustainable program development. As the PR program lead, this individual will be responsible for follow-up with each referral after brigade seasons, monitoring individual cases, and corresponding with student groups and local hospitals to achieve necessary care for patients. As a member of the CHW program, the individual will be expected to attend weekly team meetings, accompany the lead on regular community visits for trainings, and continue to conduct fundraising initiatives.
The further development of these programs relies heavily on the actions of the PR program lead and CHW coordinator. By following up with patients after each brigade season we are ensuring the sustainability of our Medical Brigades program through consistent follow up. This follow up also instills a sense of trust in our patients so that they may feel that Global Brigades is a part of their lives beyond our weeklong visits to their communities. The PR program allows GB to not only provide basic health care services but also much needed surgeries, transplants, and long-term medication that the patients can not afford on their own. It is the responsibility of the PR lead to act as the liaison between patients, students, and health care providers and organizations to make this possible. The vision of the PR program aligns nicely with that of the CHW program, as our CHWs are trained how to monitor the chronic patients of their communities.
This position requires a high level of organization and excellent time management skills. The individual must organize his/her own visits to communities with the GB (SECRETARY) to meet with patients in their homes, manage and communicate with staff members and drivers so these visits may run smoothly, and participate in weekly meetings with the CHW lead and Medical Program lead. The individual will be required to work from the Global Brigades office in order to collaborate with team members, respond to emails in a timely manner, and make phone calls to patients and community members to check in. The amount of time spent in the office and in communities is flexible and it is the responsibility of the PR lead/CHW coordinator to manage his/her time effectively. Some weeks may require more time out of the office than others and the individual simply must inform team members of his/her weekly plans.
The individual must also speak Spanish in order to communicate with patients, community volunteers, and other GB team members. Thus, a conversational level in Spanish is a requirement for this position.
Position duties
Patient Referral program
- Assist in obtaining medical attention for community members beyond the basic care, including necessary follow-up care
- Spread the word about the referral program: talk to coordinators/doctors on staff to promote the program to brigaders while in country
- Monitor budgeting and spending of the program and ensure that patients are able to access the care
- Follow up with patients after each brigade season and work with Medical Program lead (Dr. Najera) to identify patients who are good candidates for a referral case
- Continue to build and expand relationships with local health care professionals in the communities, hospitals, and other NGOs to obtain more and better services for referral patients
- Organize and conduct community visits to meet with patients in their homes to obtain a full history of the patient
- Create profiles for the patients to raise funding for necessary procedures
- Accompany patients to doctors appointments/hospital visits for both post- and pre-op care
- Document patient cases in a timely and professional manner; keep Global Brigades website updated with patients’ progress
- Work with Communications and Social Media Manager to market each case in a respectful manner to obtain funding for necessary procedures
- Act as the liaison between community patients and Honduran doctors/surgeons as well as student donors/outside donors
- Build relationships with universities, health care professionals, and student donors
- Search for outside support and funding by connecting with other NGOs
- Represent program at student leadership conferences in the US and at staff retreats in Honduras
Community Health Workers Coordinator
- Work with the program lead to empower local community leaders to perpetuate a consistent level of healthcare and improve the access to medical services within rural communities
- Assist program lead in conducting interviews for prospective community volunteers
- Develop and sustain a friendly and professional relationship with CHWs
- Participate in the administration of CHW training classes
- Plan review games for GdS to review topics covered by program lead in the trainings
- Work with program to monitor and evaluate progress of CHW care in communities by maintaining Excel documents of attended patients and medication supplies
- Conduct fundraising initiatives to further support this program by seeking out partnerships with other NGOs and/or student groups
- Work with Shital Chauhan (CEO) and Medical Committee to further develop the CHW externship program for the following year
- Develop/revise CHW externship application and manage responses from applicants
- Maintain regular contact with student chairpersons regarding program development and set up monthly webinar calls to provide updates and receive feedback
- Maintain information in Student Supplemental Program Guide that will be at compound sites
- Meet with groups in compounds to raise awareness and knowledge about program
- Represent program at student leadership conferences in the US and at staff retreats in Honduras
