Partners in Health seeks Mental mHealth Technical Advisor in Haiti, for summer practicum
Partners In Health / Zanmi Lasante Mental mHealth Technical Advisor
Location: Mirebalais, Haiti, with initial training in Boston, MA, USA
Partners In Health and Zanmi Lasante Background: Partners In Health (“PIH”), headquartered in Boston, MA, is an internationally recognized non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Through its service delivery, training, advocacy and research, PIH works globally to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need and to serve as an antidote to despair. PIH operates sites for clinical care, research and training in 10 countries (Haiti, Peru, Russia, Boston, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic) and has a growing network of affiliated organizations and initiatives in several other countries, including Nepal, Burundi, Mali, Liberia, Guatemala, and Togo. Zanmi Lasante (ZL) is PIH’s sister organization in Haiti.
ZL Mental Health Program Overview: Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante (ZL) was awarded a Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) grant to develop a community-based mental health system in Haiti’s Central Plateau/Artibonite region. The program emphasizes depression screening and treatment, largely in response to an acute need in the
wake of the 2010 earthquake. The mental health program will be rolled out into 11 health centers, including a staff of 1 clinical psychologist lead, 2 psychologists at the Mirebalais University Hospital (HUM), 30 mental health community workers (including 4 located at HUM), and 2 supervisors for the community health workers. Community workers supplement the physicians through community follow up, new patient registration, interim screening, and referral of acute cases. All physicians and providers use some form of a standardized depression screening tool.
mHealth and Mental Health: As a part of the GCC Project, the ZL Mental Health Team will pilot a mobile depression tool for use by community health workers and psychologists to improve screening and diagnosis, clinical care, referral and data collection. A prototype depression screening application for community health workers was developed in early 2014 through a partnership with the Mobile Health course at the International Health Department at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). The application was modeled after the paper-based screening tool and workflows provided by the ZL/PIH mental health team.
During the course of this project, community health workers at selected pilot sites will transition to a mobile phone-based screening tool to improve standardized care, facilitate referrals and follow up. Data automatically collected on the phones through client registration and screening can facilitate supervision and structured quality improvement activities. Mobile phones have also been shown to improve community health worker motivation and may promote worker retention and engagement.
For the full job description and details on applying follow the link.
