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Home Care - 5.2 Team formation
5.2 Home Care Team formation
Each home care team consists of 3 full-time NGO staff and 2 half-time government staff from the health centre. At the inception of the Pilot programme, both the NGOs and the health centres were asked to select interested staff members, who were then interviewed by a panel made up of representatives from the programme partners. A rating system was used to assess the interviewees’ knowledge and attitudes towards PLHA, as well as their backgrounds. The 40 staff (initially there were 8 teams of 5), who were selected on merit, then discussed and signed an Agreement of Roles and Responsibilities.
A small proportion of those who were selected were subsequently found to be unsuitable, and left the HCTs. Of the 40 staff originally selected, 35 are still working in the HCTs.
The home care staff, as well as the members of the Home Care Network Group have emphasised during this evaluation that the selection of the right staff for the home care teams is critical to the success of the programme. The right set of attitudes of the team members towards PLHA (understanding, empathic, supportive, non-judgemental), is felt to be particularly important.
Lesson learned: a competitive selection procedure for HCTs to ensure the right staff with the right set of attitudes towards PLHA is important to ensure quality home care provision
Following selection, the first two weeks of training were largely devoted to team-building. This was partly to promote better understanding of the different strengths of NGO and MoH approaches to healthcare and development. It was also felt that promoting good team spirit and collaboration from the beginning would help provide a support mechanism to alleviate the stresses which often arise in palliative care situations. Generally, staff from the same NGO stayed together in a team, but there was some mixing to achieve a good balance of skills, experience and gender within a team. This was necessary to meet the diverse needs of the home care programme.
Lesson learned: achieving the right balance of skills, experience and gender within a team and fostering team support and collaboration are important inputs in setting up the home care programme
Each home care team consists of 3 full-time NGO staff and 2 half-time government staff from the health centre. At the inception of the Pilot programme, both the NGOs and the health centres were asked to select interested staff members, who were then interviewed by a panel made up of representatives from the programme partners. A rating system was used to assess the interviewees’ knowledge and attitudes towards PLHA, as well as their backgrounds. The 40 staff (initially there were 8 teams of 5), who were selected on merit, then discussed and signed an Agreement of Roles and Responsibilities.
A small proportion of those who were selected were subsequently found to be unsuitable, and left the HCTs. Of the 40 staff originally selected, 35 are still working in the HCTs.
The home care staff, as well as the members of the Home Care Network Group have emphasised during this evaluation that the selection of the right staff for the home care teams is critical to the success of the programme. The right set of attitudes of the team members towards PLHA (understanding, empathic, supportive, non-judgemental), is felt to be particularly important.
Lesson learned: a competitive selection procedure for HCTs to ensure the right staff with the right set of attitudes towards PLHA is important to ensure quality home care provision
Following selection, the first two weeks of training were largely devoted to team-building. This was partly to promote better understanding of the different strengths of NGO and MoH approaches to healthcare and development. It was also felt that promoting good team spirit and collaboration from the beginning would help provide a support mechanism to alleviate the stresses which often arise in palliative care situations. Generally, staff from the same NGO stayed together in a team, but there was some mixing to achieve a good balance of skills, experience and gender within a team. This was necessary to meet the diverse needs of the home care programme.
Lesson learned: achieving the right balance of skills, experience and gender within a team and fostering team support and collaboration are important inputs in setting up the home care programme