Health has a direct impact on income, education and employment opportunities for members of the community since effective participation in any of these areas requires them to be physically and mentally fit. This is the rationale behind our focus on community health, which we execute both independently and with the support of partners.
Mitra:
‘Armaan’ and MCGM have partnered with PSS to implement m-Mitra services in our community. m-Mitra is a free mobile voice call service that provides culturally appropriate and comprehensive information on preventive care and simple interventions to reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in urban India. The voice calls are in the local dialect, specific to women’s gestational age or the age of the infant and are sent weekly/twice a week free of cost directly to pregnant women and mothers with infants.
Both m-Mitra and PSS play critical roles to ensure the success of the program. m-Mitra has a standardized process which covers identification and registration of pregnant women, call generation and follow up visits to monitor their health. PSS supports the program by focusing on behavior change – we work with individual women, families and hospitals to ensure that they adhere to medical schedules and nutrition requirements. Over 10,000 women have availed of our m-Mitra services till date. Our work has also resulted in the formation of support groups among women to discuss and resolve health issues.
Brand Ambassador Project:
The Brand Ambassador Project was launched in December 2014, along the lines of m-Mitra, to identify pregnant women from marginalized communities, and get them included in the call list for m-Mitra. We work with 4 hospitals, where women from these communities typically receive treatment:
- Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Kandivali West
- Balasaheb Thakre Hospital, Jogeshwari East
- Akurli Maternity Home, Kandivali East
- M.W. Desai Hospital, Malad East
Since the beginning of this program, we have linked over 4000 women to the voice call program. Access to information has helped ensure safe deliveries of their children. Increased outreach in the community has enabled women who were earlier uninformed about ANC and PNC to become aware of the benefits that they can avail for better health and nutrition for themselves and their babies.
Nutrition Demo session:
We organize nutrition demo sessions to improve the health of the marginalised section of the community around Kranti Nagar. Our staff demonstrate different low cost recipes which are nutritious for a mother and her child. Women also participate in nutritious food making competitions. Over the years, these events have become quite popular among the women and receive a great response. The objective behind organizing these events is to help women inculcate these habits of cooking nutritious food for themselves and for their families.
Healthy Mother and Healthy Child Competition:
PSS conducts healthy mother and child contests every year. The main objective of the contest is to communicate the importance of nutrition among women and its impact on the health of the child. The healthy children chosen from the competition serve as references indicating the standards achievable by the entire community. The winners among mothers are decided on the basis of indicators such as weight of children, breast feeding practices, timely medical examinations etc. Their level of hygiene, growth, development and factors leading to their good health act as good examples for other mothers.
Health Camp:
PSS organizes health camps to provide free medical examinations to the marginalised section of the community. Over the years, thousands of people have benefited from these camps. The camps include a skin specialist, pediatrician, and gynecologist, who contribute their time for the camp voluntarily. Apart from free check up, we also have speakers at the camp to reinforce the importance of health in our life.
Mahila Arogya Samiti (MAS):
PSS has introduced Mahila Arogya Samitis (MAS) to educate women on their health through various stages of their life from puberty to menopause. MAS are community-based women’s groups that serve as local institutions for health planning and action. These groups provide useful information on nutrition, reproductive health, safe motherhood, prenatal and postnatal care and other common health concerns faced by women. They work closely with Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), or government health workers, and public health institutions to increase uptake of government health services. A well-functioning MAS can result in improved utilisation of health services and bridge the gap between people’s needs and service delivery.
The National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), Maharashtra has appointed SNEHA as the Mother NGO to help other NGOs implement the Mahila Arogya Samitis. With the help of NUHM and Sneha, PSS created 50 groups of MAS at Kandivali and Malad area. Training was provided to the women for handling responsibilities and creating reports for MAS.
