What is this Project?
The FORGE Health Service was created in direct response to the refugee community’s expressed need for improved access to primary healthcare. With a small health facility and a team of one Registered Nurse and two Outreach Workers, the FHS aims to conduct active community outreach, render daily consultation and referral services, offer regular access to a medical doctor, administer field educational workshops, and provide a community health resource center. The FHS is not intended to be a substitute for formal clinical care, but is meant to complement the existing services through relatively small-scale interventions aimed at areas and populations of the Settlement with traditionally lower access to similar services.
Why is it Needed?
The FHS is designed in response to the refugee community’s expressed need for greater access to primary healthcare, especially in regions of the Meheba Refugee Settlement remote from the existing clinical infrastructure.
Who does it Help?
Through the FHS facility, the project mainly serves the population of Block C and other nearby blocks. Furthermore, through the Outreach Workers, the FHS accepts cases from the entire Settlement. While the FHS is open to all demographic groups, special attention is given to individuals unable to benefit from existing health services for reasons of immobility or otherwise.
In addition, the FHS’s educational programs are planned to systematically cover the entire Settlement, beginning with the areas of greatest concentration of population.
What are the Daily Activities?
- Providing basic checkups for community members
- Bringing a doctor into the camp once a month to administer more extensive examinations
- Providing vitamins, condoms, first aid materials, and other basic health supplies to refugees in need
- Conducting workshops to educate the community on ways in which they can maintain their own health
- Actively seeking out vulnerable individuals in the community who are unable to act on their need for medical attention
What are the Objectives?
- To provide the entire B, C, and D community access to healthcare while relieving some of the burden on the existing clinical services in these areas.
- To improve the community’s awareness and knowledge of prevalent health-related issues through education
- To provide basic medications to anyone in need who contacts the FORGE Health Service
- To provide basic health screening to anyone in need who contacts the FORGE Health Service
- To provide referrals to clinics for individuals who otherwise would not have access to clinics
- To deliver two two-hour field workshops per month on topics such as: nutrition, dehydration, hygiene, first aid, malaria, HIV/AIDS, respiratory tract infections, sexually-transmitted diseases, family planning, and maternal health
- To maintain geographical and gender balance in workshop participants
- To provide access to printed health materials to all members of the B, C, and D communities
How does it Measure Progress?
