Radio Distance Learning Program for Community
Health Workers - Laxassayu Ngir Wèr Gi Yaram

Project dates: June 2001- Present

Themes: HIV/AIDS/Youth, Child Health/IMCI, Relays Capacity Building, Community Mobilization, Family Planning and Maternal Health, Malaria

• Overview
• Partners
• Objectives
• Activities
• Outputs
• Unique Features
• Future Plans

Overview

One of the health challenges in Senegal is the use of traditional medicine and the misunderstanding of religion's position on health services such as FP. It is therefore critical to increase communities' awareness of the benefits of using reproductive health services. Decentralization of the health system in Senegal is an enabling factor in that regard since it has allowed expansion of services at the district and community levels with an increase in outreach activities. However, community health workers/relays, although they usually have skills in several health areas, do not always have the same levels of knowledge, depending on the mandate of the cooperating agency that sponsors their training.

Through a radio distance learning (DL) program for community health workers, the MH/FP project hopes to harmonize the level of knowledge of the "polyvalent" relay workers across all project districts.

Partners

• MOH/National Reproductive health Services-SNSR
• National, regional, and rural radio stations
• BASICS
• National AIDS control Program - PNLS

Objectives

• Improve the knowledge of relay workers in maternal health and FP, child survival, adolescent health, STI/HIV/AIDS, interpersonal communication and counseling, and action planning.
• Empower and motivate relay workers in their communities.
• Encourage communities to seek services by providing them the same health information provided to relay workers through radio.

Activities

• Radio DL program design workshop.
• Synopsis writing for the 26 episodes of the program.
• Script writing.

Outputs

• Three final first scripts for production and pre-test.

Unique Features

The design workshop involved participants from several backgrounds health sector, communication, information education communication, MOH/SNSR, relay workers, writers, various partner cooperating agencies, and USAID.

Future Plans

• Production and pre-testing of the first three scripts.
• Finalization and production of the remaining scripts.
• Broadcast of the program.

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