Jumping into action — Adapting to COVID-19
Given the proximity of Aida and Al-Azza camps to Bethlehem, the first epicenter of coronavirus in Palestine, our community health workers have quickly adapted to serve both their patients and the larger community. From raising awareness through informative videos, to distributing school materials to students and delivering medications to patients, their work has been essential to minimizing the spread and effects of COVID-19 in Palestine.
Delivering Medications
The CHWs have continued to care for their patients through scheduled phone calls. Medication adherence and supply checks have become particularly important. In light of COVID-19, the CHWs have now taken to picking up prescriptions for patients and hand delivering them to their doors, all while taking all the proper precautions.
Staying safe
At H4P, keeping our community health works safe is our top priority. We thus collaborated with the Palestine Children's Relief Fund to obtain and provide personal protective equipment for all staff. We also obtained point-of-care testing kits, such as A1c tests, to continue to be able to ensure our patients are on track with management of their diabetes. Finally, we distributed pulse oximeters to select patients with respiratory function so that we can closely monitor them in a safe way.
Contact Tracing
With the recent breakout in Hebron and Bethlehem, the community health workers have begun to work on early detection of cases among our patients, including twice weekly check-ins on patients with recent positive contacts, symptom checks, and shortness of breath monitoring.
Raising Awareness
The CHWs, led by managing director Hanadi, have conducted a series of webinars and created original content to raise awareness on COVID-19, and debunk some myths surrounding the virus. They also hosted an in-person, three day camp (with all the necessary precautions) to teach patients about staying safe during COVID-19, with expert physician guests. Watch our webinar here.