Author(s): Mary Ann Lansang

Description: How one community influences State health practices
The Elim Care Group was created to improve the quality of health services to communities being served by the Elim Hospital in South Africa. A look at its history reveals the tensions that can arise between private and state backers of a community health project. It shows the need for organizations funding a development project to take a long-term view and highlights the importance of individuals whose strength and personality can be crucial for a project’s success.
 
In his presentation to the Symposium: Community Action for Health of  Medicus Mundi, Switzerland, Prof. Carel IJsselmuiden, Director of the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), reflects on his time working with the Elim Care Group Project in South Africa, as head of the Community Health Team. Summarizing lessons from this experience, he offers perspectives for Swiss organisations running health programmes in developing countries.
 
In highlighting key lessons from the Care Group, he notes that they are ‘post-hoc’, not fully representative and perhaps not objective. Yet, he says, this was the best the group could do to attempt to extract generic knowledge from the project.
 
But, he says: “If four simple messages can be heard and practiced by development partners, the Elim Care Group Project will have had an influence beyond its home in Gazankulu,”. They are:

Have a strong focus on the people in the project
Define a synergy between community and health service
Invest in inputs and process on par with the focus on outputs and outcomes
Commit to long term involvement
 
IJsselmuiden also stresses the importance of having a learning process built into a project as a core component. He explains: “Perhaps the biggest lesson is that we need to find ways to increase the learning potential of our interventions. For example, by making explicit budget provisions for monitoring and evaluation; providing technical support for community groups to measure and reflect on their work; or by ensuring adequate long term impact measurement and reporting. With this kind of approach in the Elim project we could have learned more – more quickly.”
 
Read the full presentation:
http://www.medicusmundi.ch/mms/services/bulletin/bulletin200601/kap02/99IJsselmujden.html
 
Lessons from the Elim Care Group Project
Symposium “Community Action for Health”: South Africa
Bulletin von Medicus Mundi Schweiz Nr. 99, Januar 2006

Date: 1995

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This document is not available electronically on the COHRED website. Please contact COHRED for a print-copy.