About us
Established in May 2014 , Nama wellness stands as a dedicated local Non- Governmental Organization, located in Lukkojo village, Nama sub-county, Mukono District, Uganda. The Organization’s core vision lies in providing quality and equitable healthcare for all, with our focus areas centered around, Health service delivery, Research, Advocacy and changing policy norms.
The problem
Rural communities in Uganda are experiencing poor health outcomes, evidenced by increased maternal, neonatal, infant and child morbidity and mortality.
Uganda’s current maternal mortality is at 336 per 100,000 live births with neonatal mortality at 39 deaths per 1000 live births.
These challenges are attributed to weak community health systems and lack of access to quality health care services at the grass root level.
How we work
Our solution revolves around optimizing community led health system through CHWs who are accredited, accessible, proactive, part of a strong health system, paid, continuously trained, part of a data feedback loop, supported and supervised. We believe that this will result in the delivery of quality, integrated community health services that are affordable, culturally appropriate, evidence-based, and accessible to every household in Mukono District and Uganda at large.
Our community based healthcare model aims to extend its reach to the most remote and underserved areas, ensuring comprehensive healthcare access for everyone. This objective is accomplished through our strategic focus on the following key areas:
- Health service delivery
Evidence based interventions
Digital community health information
Linking communities to health servicesConducting clinical outreaches
Quality and compassionate health service delivery at community health centres
Community based mental health service
- Research
Conduct comprehensive needs assessments and foster collaborative learning.
Train staff and CHWs in advanced research and data mgt. skills.
Embrace digital solutions for efficient data management.
Implement evidence-based interventions to address community health priorities.
Integrate community data into national monitoring and evaluation systems.
- Advocacy and changing policy norms.
Spearhead the establishment of a national association for CHWs.
Collaborate with key actors to optimize the CHW supply chain.
Partner with Ministry of Health Uganda and other partners to develop a comprehensive master list of CHWs.
Advocate for policy reforms to professionalize CHWs.
Our desire
Our desire is a stronger Ugandan health system with increased availability and accessibility of equitable community health services, through an actively engaged, community health workforce that is linked to strong government health facilities.
Impact
- Client experience
"I went into labor, alone in my house. I was so scared because I didn’t have transport to hospital, I reached out to madam Sarah, the CHW in the village, told her of how I was feeling, she called for a car from Nama wellness which immediately took me to the hospital where I delivered well.
The merciful woman again came to check on me and the baby. She offered to teach me how to breastfeed, clean and cover my baby to make him warm. At this point, I got very emotional and cried because I had met a stranger who had become family to me and my three children after being neglected by my husband. I feel relieved to have settled in a village with CHWs who care for us women and children.''
Lilian
CHW experience
‘’ Thanks to Nama Wellness and the Advocacy training course. Today, I am able to speak up and express myself without fear. When we went to Soroti district to support other CHWs, me and my colleagues were at the top of our game, we easily took lead. I have also been lucky to be among the seven CHWs piloting Dimagi’s CommCare Connect project which involves the use of smart phones to administer interpersonal psychotherapy for groups (IPT-G) to manage depression and anxiety in women and girls in our community. It is such a fulfilling calling being a CHW’’
Our Team
Nama Wellness has thrived for close to a decade. Our dedication lies in strengthening health systems, predominantly through optimizing community-led initiatives. This proactive approach has not only saved lives but has also extended its influence to marginalized communities that often lack access to essential services.
By collaborating with us, you can contribute to the ongoing mission of bolstering health systems and making a tangible difference in ensuring quality healthcare access for all.
Our Goal:
Our goal is to expand our scope of work to focus more on quality community health service delivery, research and influencing national policy in favour of professional CHWs (proCHW). We aim at making Mukono District a model district for quality community health programming.
Our Ask:
Current (2023) budget USD 684, 616
Expansion budget is USD 1,400,000
Your support will greatly contribute to our expansion needs, of evidenced service delivery through research, proCHW advocacy and influencing policy change as well as help us realize our vision of access to equitable community health services.
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