Project News

Two Japanese experts came back to Ghana on 12 November 2020 and the on-site project activities are accelerating. The project conducted an orientation for district facilitators and a training for health workers from the major hospitals in Oti region which is a new region divided from Volta region.

Orientation for regional and district facilitators

The project conducted a one-day orientation for regional and district facilitators in Oti region on 23rd November 2020 prior to the training. The purpose was to share the result of the first national Monitoring and Supervision and to introduce the new contents of the MCH RB training and the updated training package (See the project news "Revision of health worker training materials"). As Oti region is a new region, no regional facilitators were trained when the project conducted TOT in 2018 (See the project news "Training of District level trainers on the new combined maternal and child health record book in all 10 regions of Ghana"). In addition, some new important contents were added to the MCH RB training recently. Therefore, national facilitators decided to hold an orientation for regional and district facilitators in Oti prior to the training. Three regional facilitators and twenty-two district facilitators joined the orientation held in Ho, Volta region as there were no suitable venues in Oti region. At the opening of the orientation, a project expert made a presentation on the results of the first national M&S: the MCH RB has been utilized in the whole region; basic information was well recorded in MCH RB; and nutrition counseling had started at health facilities. Some cases of the good practices were also presented. On the other hand, some challenges were identified, such as calculation of BMI and desired weight at EDD; recording of the counseling results; interpretation of the plotted growth chart. National facilitators explained the new contents of MCHRB training such as Nutrition Counseling Services and Respectful Care and how to utilize the updated training package including the trainers' guide and participants' manual with the actual demonstration of some important sessions. Furthermore, it was emphasized that continual on-site coaching through M&S was effective and important for facilitating participants to acquire some knowledge and skills which may be difficult to learn completely with the training alone. The district facilitators are expected to share the new content with health workers in their districts.

Training for health works at major hospitals

Following the orientation, the training for health workers at major hospitals in Oti region was conducted from 24 to 27th November. Thirty-one health workers from eight districts participated in the four-day training. Under the COVID19, all participants were adhering to GHS protocol such as wearing masks, washing their hands before entering the training venue and hand-sanitizing every time.

All the participants actively participated in the group work and roll-plays in the training. On Day 3 and 4, the field practice took place at the Ho municipal hospital. The participants practiced recording skills, measurement skills, and counseling skills. The pre- post test score in which the full score is100 points, improved by 30 points on average. After the post test, the facilitators explained the points where mistakes are easily made. One participant said that this training was informative and useful for her routine work and she learned a lot.

Place to wash hands

Practice for height measurement

Role-play to introduce MCH RB

Practice for the 4-star diet

National facilitators supported regional facilitators to conduct the training, especially on the new contents such as Nutrition Counseling Services and Respectful Care. Regional facilitators are expected to conduct the second Monitoring and Supervision with the project team.

Similar to the training in Greater Accra in October (See the project news "Health worker training for the maternal and child health record book, Nutrition counseling services and respectful car in Greater Accra region"), the four-day program was tested with the updated training package. (See the project news "Revision of health worker training materials"). The four-day program worked better as the facilitator had enough time to explain all the contents and gave additional exercises to the participants according to their level of understanding. The revised training materials were also tested and found all right.

Way forwards

This has been the first major project activities after the return of two Japanese experts to Ghana. All Project members are grateful for the patience and the flexibility of the GHS members to continue to work with the Project team on-line and sustain the project for the past 7 months. The project continues its activities with maximum efforts by paying close attention to the countermeasure against COVID 19.