Are you or your organization interested in supporting the physical health challenges of your communities?
With 78% of rural communities experiencing low back pain on a weekly basis, 74% of hospital out-patient departments coping with these patients, and 18% of homes caring for an elder with chronic limitations, our programs may be the support you are looking for.
We are available to consult on your projects from a medical, social, and cultural perspective. Consultations are informed by more than ten years of experience living within Sub-Sahara Africa supporting rural communities, with over 7 years specifically dedicated to research, community engagement, development of material and concepts to trials of implementation. All this has refined our programs to ensure the best fit for your organization and communities.
What is offered
HiM offers consulting for rural settings across Sub Sahara Africa. This includes a community assessment of physical health strengths and limitations, cultural approaches towards recommended concepts, and community engagement to change based on social behaviors. From there, our training programs will be individually tailored to your community or organization’s interest. This could be either the preventative injury training or the home rehabilitation schooling.
Both programs will provide a community mapping opportunity of your cultural/lifestyle setting to inform a personalized approach.
Injury Prevention Program
We will prepare your organization’s field staff via a ten-day training. This will ensure your staff have all the relevant knowledge and skills to engage your communities in the structured 9-month implementation process. During this period, the volunteers form their own participant groups in the community in order to teach and implement the strategies within households. The trained volunteers become certified as; “movement educators” at the end of the nine-months and go on to support their communities independently.
Chronic Rehabilitation Program
As we look at those who have been chronically affected by improper movement and musculoskeletal overuse or degenerative limitations, HiM equips your selected organization staff and the community volunteers through a two-week schooling. The schooling is offered together with your staff and volunteers due to the intensity of the program. This ensures your staff have the best capabilities to support the volunteers. Those who complete this schooling will now be certified as; “advanced movement educators” with the knowledge and ability to assess functionality of these individuals while providing a home plan of stretches and exercises specific to their limitations.
Other Program Options
Other areas of physical mobility and rehabilitation training or support may be assessed and discussed on an individual organization/community needs basis.
• Expertise in rural Sub-Sahara African culture, beliefs, and social structures
• Tailored advice and solutions based on detailed analysis
• Prioritized interest and advancement of the well-being of the community
• Respect of cultural traditions
• Approaches sustainable at a local level
• A training guide in rural ergonomics and exercise rehabilitation strategies for field facilitators and partners
For more information on our training programs or specific rehabilitation needs, please email us for further discussion. We offer an initial community rehabilitation needs consult for free. This will be offered over zoom for a 1-hour discussion followed by a detailed plan to lay out our suggestion to assist your needs.
Testimonials
Leonard Banza
is an orthopaedic surgeon who has worked in the private, NGO and government sectors of Malawi for more than 20 years. He writes;
“I have noticed that 50 to 70% of patients presenting to our hospitals suffer from lower back pain. Unfortunately, this involved the younger and elderly populations. After a thorough analysis, we have realized that most of these lower back pains are mainly work-related daily activities with poor physical ergonomics. I did not know how to go about it because people have been working like this for many years. How could I change this as an individual? Talking individually to each client in the consultation room was not efficient enough. I was therefore frustrated.
As I was conducting an outreach clinic in Nkhata-bay, I was introduced to HiM and their work in the communities. It was so impressive and I was so excited because this is something we have been lacking in the country for years.
My wish is to see HiM expanding its work in the whole country and this will reduce the number of patients with lower back pain in our clinics, assist those in chronic situations and save resources (analgesics, X-rays, CT and MRI scan, off duty etc.) in our hospitals.”
Kondwani Msofi
is a physiotherapist at Mzuzu Central Hospital and also supports the M&E work for HiM the past 4yrs.
As he reflects on the impact of HiM, he comments;
“Health in Motion has acted as a key in addressing the knowledge and skills gap to the hard-to-reach areas here in Malawi. It is always difficult with my profession to reach out to the rural communities but HiM has made it possible. They have assisted to prevent physical injuries caused by the way rural dwellers do their daily activities. Targeting prevention by giving out knowledge and still in preventing physical injuries especially “injury to the lower back”, has helped the communities that have limited or no access to Malawi’s health services; especially rehabilitation.
As HIM expands to chronic rehabilitation to the elderly in the rural Malawi, I see it as a key to addressing the gap that exists in the palliative arm of health service provision in Malawi whose main focus is on medical palliation as well as providing the accessibility where they are not able to travel for such support.
I am happy with HiM’s programs and can be more encouraged if it expands its reach to all rural communities in the country. This will enhance development at large as the larger population will be active, and productive.”