The Way we Work
A. Onsite, District specific, Technical and Program Capacity Building Activities
S2S operationalises its district specific capacity building support via five key phases.
Phase I: Preparation and Prioritization. S2S engage with partners to identify stakeholders in newly supported districts, including local partners and focal persons from the Department of Health. S2S hosts Pre-Entry Seminars to introduce stakeholders to the S2S program and approach and to establish a framework of collaboration through which the prime service provider, the Department of Health, and S2S would achieve results at health facilities identified for support.
Phase II: Introduction, Assessment, and Planning. Each facility identified in Phase I is introduced to the S2S program and orientated to the site support process through an Entry Seminar. Together with operations managers, HIV service providers, and District Health Managers, the S2S technical team collaboratively discuss and agree upon the approaches to be used to enhance the quality of services at the respective facilities. S2S conducts Baseline Assessments to identify health facility capacities, barriers, and opportunities for improving the uptake of quality HIV services and to track outcomes and progress. Following the Assessment, the S2S technical team provides feedback to the facility staff on findings and, in collaboration with health facility staff, confirms priorities, and supports the facility in the development of workplans and timelines to achieve targets, and agrees upon a schedule for ongoing site support.
Phase III: Implementation and Monitoring. S2S technical teams support partners and health facilities to implement their specific facility workplans through a support process consisting of ongoing clinical mentoring and modelling, skills building, knowledge transfer, and supportive supervision to improve quality of care. Site support activities are conducted regularly with individual health workers or in small groups trainings off site (Cluster Implementation Workshops) to introduce new competencies and reinforce specific areas of need with an aim of rapidly enhancing site performance. The South-to-South approach is to compliment all training events with in-service follow up and on-the-job mentoring and supporting supervision to ensure implementation of new knowledge and skills. S2S focuses on strengthening facilities’ programs and systems by initiating/enhancing: service quality; the multidisciplinary approach to service delivery; client flow; the implementation of referral systems and linkages to and from primary health centers, PMTCT and ART sites; and other relevant services. S2S further supports health care workers by conducting in service training sessions for facility health teams to foster the skills necessary to enhance their capacity to work effectively as a team and remain engaged in their work, motivated, and healthy, while working in an environment that is often physically and emotionally demanding. Content covered includes health worker well-being, job satisfaction, communication skills, team building, managing conflict, motivation, coping with change, and managing stress.
Phase IV: Follow-up. Regular progress assessments of site progress to ensure facilities’ continued, successful implementation of activities and, where necessary, the design and implementation of supportive action steps to strengthen the implementation of activities are conducted.
Phase V: Transitioning. S2S finalizes documentation surrounding the site level support provided to an individual health facility, generates recommendations and action plans for implementation by relevant USAID implementing partners, and debriefs relevant stakeholders on transitioning activities.
B. Offsite Health Care Worker Capacity Building Activities
South to South offers a one-week paediatric HIV care & treatment training course based at the University of Stellenbosch Faculty of Health Sciences, Tygerberg Children’s Hospital. The aim of the program is to build paediatric HIV knowledge, training and mentorship capacity within USAID partner organisations and the DOH. The training philosophy is a mix of didactic learning with applied clinical learning at Tygerberg and Brooklyn Chest Hospitals.
C. Technical Assistance to the Department of Health and Implementing Partners
S2S acts as the coordinator of the PEPFAR Partner PMTCT working group. S2S hosts quarterly PMTCT partner workshops to discuss and evaluate various approaches to PMTCT program implementation. Meeting discussion points include: data quality improvement, use of PMTCT cascade data at the facility level to inform management decisions, linking community partners to facilitate the update of PMTCT services, referral and tracking of women and children and the implementation of validated better practices.
S2S provides Paediatric HIV technical assistance to the NDOH Maternal & Child Health and IMCI teams (in partnership with ECHO), in terms of content revision of the recently adopted IMCI Paediatric ART supplement for nurses, training support at IMCI Trainer of the Trainer events on nurse initiated management of antiretroviral therapy, the development and distribution of a NDOH endorsed paediatric HIV management job aids toolkit for healthcare workers as an adjunct to IMCI and on site NiMART material, and the initiation and chairing of a Paediatric Technical Working Group in Tshwane consisting of DOH and other key partners to facilitate the uptake of paediatric HIV testing, decentralization of paediatric HIV care and treatment and the strengthening of quality comprehensive paediatric HIV care.
S2S is developing an online repository that would allow for posting of partner better practices, curricula, tools, etc. and which will act as a resource to share information on the various PEPFAR working groups for TB/HIV, PMTCT, Cervical Cancer, HCT, and Management systems related to their specific task areas.
D. Development and Distribution of Performance and Training Support Tools and Resources
S2S developed useful and focused tools and materials to enhance the family-centered HIV services provided at supported health facilities. For a complete list of materials, click on the tool section.
