January 17, 2022
Completed Projects
Full name of project: Ensuring continuity and quality of maternal and child health
services during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Project duration: December 2021 – September 2022
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Project Partners: Ministry of IDPs, Labour, Health, and Social Affairs of Georgia, Georgian Medical Holding
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Description: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt access to, and utilization of, maternal and child health (MCH) services. Children, adolescents and mothers are not getting the care they need; for some conditions, this may have life-long and sometimes life-threatening consequences.
Although Caritas Czech Republic already cooperated with UNICEF to tackle these issues in 2021, some gaps still need to be addressed. Apart of online trainings and supervision, also the practice facilitation (or coaching) and expert consultation (or peer-to-peer mentoring) is needed to help primary health care (PHC) providers to develop skills and to organize their approach to quality improvement (QI).
In addition, quality of healthcare delivery for hospitalized children during the COVID-19 pandemic has to be improved. Although the increase in hospitalization rates among children and adolescents has led to the development of appropriate care protocols for children with COVID-19, these protocols need to be updated on a regular basis based on accumulated evidence and best practices in other countries. Accordingly, the quality of pediatric medical care provided should be constantly monitored and improved, especially in the pediatric clinics / pediatric wards located in the regions of Georgia. The staff of hospitals should be trained in the use of the protocols. -
Project Results: Continuity and quality of maternal and child health services both at primary and secondary levels during the COVID-19 pandemic ensured via improvement of the quality of child health and development services provided by rural PHC providers and via improvement of the quality of care of pediatric patients at the hospital level.
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Donor: USAID, UNICEF Georgia
