Great Bay, -On Saturday, August 22 persons in the field of health care ranging from general practitioners, laboratory personnel, social workers, nurses and more attended the kick-off meeting of the three month HIV[℮]Education course by Health[℮]Foundation.
We briefly spoke with Esther Erwteman, Project Manager for the Caribbean region and Gonneke Hermanides, Project Manager based in Curacao regarding the three month course. Esther mentioned that during the kick-off it was important to get feed back from the participants as to what they want to get out of the program.
“We will have group leaders to assist persons, and if the problem cannot be solved then I can be contacted via the e-tutor button,” said Esther. “Each morning when I log on, I can see exactly how far each participant is,” said Esther.
Based on a research project that was done by Gonneke in Curacao, which entailed HIV care in a small Caribbean setting, it was discovered that often the burden of HIV care is on one physician.
“The aim is to have a multi-disciplinary approach to HIV care, to the point where it needs to be decentralized,” said Gonneke. “We discussed this situation with Suzette Moses, and decided that we would develop a plan that the entire country can make use of,” Gonneke continued.
Gonneke told us that this course is unique, because the information is being brought to the participants, and they have a lifetime worth of information via their memory sticks, as the information is continuously being upgraded.
“It is not like a text book that sits on the shelf and after a period of time the information becomes outdated,” said Gonneke.
The entire training will be done via computer online with a USB stick. This group of participants will be eligible for other programs that Health[℮]Foundation offers. At the end of the three-month course the possibility is there to offer a train the trainer’s course, where three to five persons can follow the mentor program, and pass on the knowledge.
“Follow-up is very important,” said Esther.
This entire training is extremely important as a means of promoting the development of improved social services programmes, care, and treatment for persons living with HIV/AIDS and to develop a care and treatment plan.
The aim of HIV[e]Education is to provide healthcare workers with complete and updated information on all aspects of treatment and care for patients with HIV/AIDS. These courses will be done via USB sticks and the internet, and is being done by Health[e] Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Netherlands.
