Kamrup's Response to Theme - Supportive Superivision

If ‘vision’ implies seeing, the word ‘supervision’ can be read as over-seeing, looking over someone’s shoulder to check on them; and also ‘super’ in the sense of outstanding or special, helping someone to extend their professional skills and understanding.

How do you plan and implement your visits for

supportive supervision?

Planning- The plan for supportive supervision visits are done based on the reports of the previous months. The tour plan is prepared by 30^th or 31^st of every month in which the centres of low performance are given importance.

Implementation- The visits are done according to the plan or sometimes the visits have to be made(outside of the tour plan) if the staff of the various facilities face certain issues. During the visits all the documents are checked. In ICTCs a counseling session is observed, in the laboratory the documents are checked, the maintenance of cold storage of test kits are checked. If there are any important issues then discussion is done with the Incharge of the Hospital. In the TIs the documents , the referral with the ICTCs are checked. The TI staff are directed to utilize the facility of the Mobile ICTC van so that the gap between referral and actual visit of HRGs to ICTCs become less. In the ART centre it is checked whether all the HIV positives are registered or not.

What should DAPCUs keep in mind while taking supervision?

The following points should be kept in mind while taking supervision

1. DAPCU does supportive supervision and not the authority to take any official decisions.
2. During supervision if any problems are seen to be faced by the peripheral staff then the concerned division of ASACS are informed.
3. The Joint Director of Health Services (K) is informed if some issues has to be tackled at the district level.

List a few Dos and Donts

Dos

1. To handhold the peripheral staff whenever
   
   required.
2. To have a good rapport with all the peripheral staff so that if any problem arises in the field level the staff do not hesitate to inform DAPCU.
3. All information regarding the  visits must be shared with ASACS

Don'ts

1. DAPCU is not the authority to take major decisions. Only facilitation can be done with ASACS
2. The performance of the staff of one centre should not be discussed with the staff of another staff. All discussions to be made during the review meetings.

Kamrup DAPCUs Response to September Theme:

POSITIVE PREVENTION

Q.1 Why is positive prevention important?

• Positive prevention is Interventions designed to keep people living with HIV (PLHIV) physically and mentally healthy and to prevent HIV transmission to other people and increase the involvement of HIV +ve individual in prevention activities.

• Positive prevention is important because HIV prevention needs to reach both people who are at risk of HIV infection and those who are already infected.

• People who do not have HIV need interventions that will enable them to protect themselves from becoming infected.
• People who are already living with HIV need knowledge and support to protect their own health and to ensure that they do not transmit the virus to others.

Q.2. What are the strategies for positive prevention underway in your district?

• The following strategies for positive prevention underway in my district are highlighted.

• Partner counseling and testing of the PLHIV- The counselors of ICTCs and TI NGOs are directed to do the partner counseling on a regular basis.
• The HIV +ve pregnant women are called to ICTC every month for counseling on the following matters.

1. Institutional Deliveries.
2. Counseling on nutrition.
3. Safe sex.
4. Breast feeding.

• Moreover now ORWs have been newly appointed where main work is to follow up the HIV positive pregnant women and to bring them to ICTCs regularly. They also do outreach activities in remote areas and motivate pregnant clients to come to ICTCs for HIV screening.
• Community event programmes are regularly organized by the TI NGOs where the PEs along with the clients are invited. In these programmes importance is given to behavioural change among the HRGs.
• Making the mass Aware of HIV/AIDS: For positive prevention it is very necessary to make the general mass aware of the disease. To reach the mass it is the best policy to target the children. For positive prevention awareness of the school children has been started in my district.

Q.3. What role does the DAPCU play in this regard?

• DAPCU has been playing a vital role for positive prevention in the district. The following can be quoted for example:

• For prevention of infection from mother to child transmission the counsellor has to submit the line list of positive pregnant women to DAPCU (along with Assam SACS) from where the details of follow up can be monitored. If proper follow up is not done DAPCU can request the ORWs of the CCC to follow up the cases.
• DAPCU has started attending the weekly meetings of the newly appointed ORWs (under IL&FS). In these meetings the ORWs are advised to motivate the adolescent girls (for STI/ HIV screening) and newly married couples to bring to the ICTCs.
• DAPCU attends the VHND programmes along with the ICTC counsellor and ANM where the pregnant client and their spouses are made aware of HIV – its transmission, importance of HIV screening. Information regarding STI and STI/HIV interrelation is also shared in such programmes.
• The counselors have to submit an outreach report to DAPCU every month where the details are provided regarding their outreach activity with the following data-

1. No. of participants.
2. Topics of discussion.

• DAPCU Staff are also invited by TI NGOs in their Community event programme.
• Dapcu has taken steps to make childeren aware by undertaking awareness campaigns in different schools of the district.

Photos of Awareness Campaigns