Focus groups and interviews with mission and field staff, Jordan

Think Place facilitating a system mapping exercise, Jordan

Problem

MSF OCBA is developing new methodologies to adapt the medical practices to high insecurity settings. One area of focus in particular, is the de-localization of healthcare in areas where the patients have little capacity to access to the health facilities (either because of the distance, security risks in the way or because of the targeting of health facilities). This project focuses on displaced people with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes or hypertension in Jordan and South Syria. These patients require a long-term and slow-paced care that is disrupted by the lack of access to facilities, medication and specialized doctors due to the current conflict.

Approach

TThrough a collaboration between the Middle East Cell and the Displacement Unit, an approach will be developed and tested, to provide care for patients with non-communicable diseases (NCD) in high insecurity settings. The existing NCD program in Jordan, based in a secure and controlled environment, offers an opportunity to test, at first, the new methodology, with the goal of extending it to high insecurity contexts in the second half of the year (Syria, Yemen, others).

Solution

The MSF mission in Jordan will take up the lead piloting a newly designed model based on a network of informal medical providers to provide remote care for NCDs. In this new model, volunteer field workers are at the heart of care and supply of medicines. With simple diagnostic tools, basic training and a smart phone they will carry out home consultations and communicate with a medical mentor who oversees the cohort and makes main decisions about medical follow-up.