COUNSELLING
AND HOME CARE DEPARTMENT MENGO HOSPITAL.
The
counselling and Home care department of Mengo Hospital started its activities in
1989 with 69 clients
and originally provided the following services:
Counselling on "living with HIV/AIDS"
Pre
test
Pre-marriage
Post
test
Crisis
counselling
On-going support counselling
Counselling
helps clients to come to terms with their diagnosis and to live positively with
the Disease.
Medical
Care to the sick
Health
education on aspects of HIV infection in the communities around the Hospital.
Services have now been expanded to include:
Home Care
to the bed-ridden and terminally ill patients on Tuesdays and Fridays with the
help of a vehicle donated by TEAR FUND.
Evangelism and pastoral care
Community based health education on prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Children’s club for HIV infected and affected/ orphaned children.
Providing
relief to the very poor and needy families in form of clothing and food.
Prevention of mother to child transmition of HIV (PMTCT)
Provision of antiretroviral treatment.
STAFFING
The Department has seven full
time Counsellors, one Medical Officer, one driver, one office attendant and one
Evangelist.
ACTIVITIES
MEDICAL OUT PATIENT CLINIC.
The clinic
began its activities in 1989 with 69 registered clients. The number of patients
seeking medical care has increased up to an average of 1400 new clients every
year. The total clientele to date is over 33,000. Of these 60% are women, 30%
are men, and 10% are children.
The
patients receive free medical care save for a small payment of
500
Uganda shillings.
In this clinic, we attend to approximately 80 patients
a
day; however, some Mondays are heavier and the turn up is as high as 120
patients.
Infection
with HIV causes recurrent illness, this leads to constant absenteeism from work
and as a result of this,
many once able-bodied men and women lose their jobs, they are therefore unable
to pay for their medical bills.
The
children find it difficult to cope with being infected early in life. It is
harder for them to deal with feelings of anger since they are confused about the
various opportunistic infections that continuously afflict them. These young
people living with HIV require increased health care as their health declines.
The aim of
this clinic is to improve the quality of
life of HIV/AIDS infected patients.
The
Objectives of the clinic are:
To
provide treatment for opportunistic infections that patients present with in
the Monday Clinic.
To
provide prophylaxis against common Opportunistic infections such as
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a very serious and fatal chest infection in
HIV/AIDS
To provide Health Education on positive living for the infected people and
promote a healthy lifestyle.
CONSTRAINT
Over the
previous years, it has been difficult for the department to provide adequate
medical care because of lack of funds to purchase the drugs for these
opportunistic infections.This
has caused many patients to lose heart as they are weak and poor, and are unable
to find the money for the drugs that they desperately need.
HIV /AIDS INFECTED AND AFFECTED CHILDRENS’ CLUB.
The
increasing number of children being registered over the years led to our
commitment to help them.
Status
of children.
Children
are largely disadvantaged due to a number of factors:
Most
children are orphaned at a very early age; the girls are then exposed to early
sex and marriages.
The
majority that drop out of school lead life on the streets resulting high
levels of illiteracy among the youth.
Some
children have had to take up family roles after the deaths of their parents.
The eldest girl takes over responsibility of her siblings. She is therefore
deprived of her own childhood.
Some children become withdrawn, others become unruly and undisciplined.
The
sick children are left home to die!
The number
of children infected with HIV have risen as result of infection at birth. The
disease has led to poor living conditions and majority of the children from
these families are leading extremely poor lives and a very unhappy childhood.
Traditionally, relatives look after orphans. However, the overwhelming number of
orphans over stretches families socially and economically. In some instances,
relatives who have taken on these orphans themselves die. Given the dire
poverty, education is often sacrificed for more urgent needs such as food and
clothing.
The aim of
this children’s club is to improve the quality of life of HIV infected and
affected children.
The
specific objectives are:
To
provide opportunities for play for the disadvantaged children.
To
improve the academic opportunities for the HIV infected children.
To
improve the general health and well being of these children.
CONSTRAINT:
These
activities are desperately in need of a donor to assist in their continuity.
COMMUNITY
BASED HEALTH EDUCATION PROJECT.
The
Counselling and Home care department has been invited by local leaders in
Matugga/ Kiryagonja community to come and train their people in the area of
HIV/AIDS prevention. These people are largely peasants, their incomes are meagre
and cater for only limited domestic needs. Medical and social needs like health
care receive little input. There are no medical facilities government or
otherwise in the area. There is lack of understanding and education in how to
address the needs of HIV/AIDS. The community if five km off the main road and so
is considered “rural”
The
objectives of this training are:
To raise
and create awareness about HIV/AIDS in this community from 10% to 60% in a
period of three years.
To promote
positive attitudes and build community capacities to manage and care for those
infected with HIV in their home environments and emphasize behavioural change.
To
strengthen the referral system for those needing specialised care.
CONSTRAINT.
These
communities are rural and therefore difficult to access. We need a vehicle that
will enable us reach out to those communities that are not easily accessible.
HOME CARE
AND VISITATION PROGRAMME FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL
As the HIV
infection progresses to AIDS, patients become bedridden, they can no longer work
and this means that feeding, clothing and medical care are compromised. The
department provides care to the terminally ill in their homes, since at this
time; they can no longer afford to meet their hospital bills. By having a well
equipped home care team, the terminally ill patients achieve an improved quality
of life and some are able to go back to work.
Over the years
we have provided this service, our patients’ hopes and lives have improved a
great deal and for those who must die, it’s a death in comfort and with dignity!
The objectives
of the home care programme are:
To improve
the care of bedridden and terminally ill patients and their families by
providing good and adequate palliative care.
To reduce
hospital admissions for those who are unable to pay Hospital bills.
To provide
spiritual support and encouragement to the carers and the patients.
CONSTRAINT:
Our terminally ill patients are usually taken
back home to die, these patients live in rural areas that are not easily
accessible; we therefore need as vehicle that can traverse the rough terrain.
The vehicle we have right now is quite old and desperately needs replacement.
EVANGELISM
The
department offers pastoral care and evangelism to all our patients. Some times
the only hope we can give to our patients is spiritual counselling. The
Evangelist visits patients in their homes on a motorbike. We also work together
with the religious leaders of the denomination from which the patient belongs to
provide continuous spiritual support.
UPPER ROOM
MINISTRIES
This project
was initiated in response to the financial needs of many of our patients. These
funds assist patients to pay for laboratory investigations, X rays and
specialised care such as dental treatment, cancer treatment and surgery,
transporting our patients to and from hospital, food supplements and clothing
etc. Friends and sympathisers support this fund.
ANTI RETROVIRAL
TREATMENT.
The
research against HIV/AIDS has led to the development of Anti HIV drugs. Our
patients can now access these drugs through the drug access initiative. These
drugs improve the quality of life of patients by directly targeting the HIV
virus and thereby improve the immune system. Patients can then live longer and
are able to lead normal lives and look after their families.
These
drugs are still expensive and patients have to pay for them. This is further
worsened by the fact that treatment is lifetime. We acknowledge the fact that
these drugs are not a cure but help to reduce the viral load in the body and are
very useful in treatment of AIDS related cancers.
PREVENTION OF MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION OF HIV (PMTCT)
Vertical
transmission of HIV form mother to child is the main cause of HIV amongst
infants and children. Infection through the placenta to the unborn child can be
reduced by taking a single dose of an anti retroviral treatment.
Infection through breast milk occurs in breasting mothers. This can also be
prevented by health educating the pregnant mother on infant feeding options and
what substitutes are available.
We need
to raise awareness amongst pregnant women on what can be done to reduce the
vertical transmission of HIV to 1
For further details of our work with HIV/AIDS patients
please contact
