Job Purpose:
As the Project Officer, Health & Linkage, you are responsible for supporting all health, linkage and nutrition activities within AMAC, FCT. In addition to the specific duties outlined below, you will be responsible for providing technical support and supervision to the health team; contributing to reporting and data collection; initiating, leading, monitoring visits to supported facilities; and providing technical input, writing and budgetary input for new program design.
Key Responsibilities:
HEALTH
Profile CALHIV under their care and develop individualized service plans.
Deliver Health Education during enrolment, assessment, and caregivers forums.
Ensure assigned CALHIV visit health facilities for ARV refills, using escort services/accompaniment support when necessary.
Monitor adherence to clinical appointments, including VL sample collection and Enhanced
Adherence Counselling (EAC).
Conduct daily visits to CALHIV to observe ARV intake and address adherence challenges.
Conduct regular nutritional assessments of CALHIV.
Refer malnourished CALHIV to health facilities for appropriate nutrition services.
Ensure all CALHIV aged 10 years and above, whose HIV status has been disclosed, attend Operation Triple Zero (OTZ) and adolescent support group meetings.
Provide specialized psychosocial support services to address adherence barriers, stigma, and mental health concerns.
Refer CALHIV and their caregivers to mental health services when needed.
Support CALHIV and their positive caregivers in adopting positive living practices to enhance their wellbeing
Promote positive living strategies to enable CALHIV to live long and healthy lives.
Implement Facility Lite intervention and document all services.
Enrol and develop care plans for all HIGH-RISK CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT and their households.
NUTRITION
Identify and utilize existing child-focused health and nutrition programs (e.g., childhood immunization, PMTCT, treatment, nutrition, malaria, TB, adolescent, child survival programs etc.) and link beneficiaries who may need these services to ensure access to and uptake of services that these programs provide.
Reduce access barriers to health and nutrition services via nutrition education.
Refer children to existing nutrition support programs in the community.
Establish Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) support groups in the community
Conduct nutrition monitoring assessment bi-annually for all 0-Syr HIGH-RISK CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT COMMUNITY SERVICE with proper documentation and ensure referral for malnourished HIGH-RISK CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT.
Carry out Water, sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) service delivery at point of assessment, enrolment and during caregiver's forum.
Offer Food security training during caregiver's forum.
Make necessary referral (food banks) as the need arises.
LINKAGE
Contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV referrals and linkage process at health facilities and community.
Ensure synergy of all linkage processes & track outcomes to and from health facilities and communities.
Facilitate access to HIV screening and testing for HIGH-RISK CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT and their households.
Document HIV testing and/or linkage/access to clinical services in the HIGH-RISK CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT /Household folders
Facilitate same day linkage to HIV treatment services for identified CALHIV.
Provide support to identified HIV clients on linkage processes, including assessment and mitigation of possible barriers to linkage.
Ensure effective follow-up by working closely with the project team to facilitate follow up visits for HIV clients through home visits, phone call and text messages and adequately track process outcomes.
Facilitate the implementation of community adherence monitoring.
Ensure the effective implementation of Positive Health Dignity and Prevention (PHDP) concepts at the community level.
Work closely with Health Care workers to ensure patients are carried along the scale of care and retention.
Facilitate assisted referral for newly identified HIV clients between community and facility systems and ensure client retention within the health facilities.
Ensure the implementation of strategic HIV referral/linkage protocols art the designated health facilities.
Contribute to capacity building for HCWs with respect to referral and linkage process.
Ensure effective data management and supervise the process of appropriate data collection at the facility and community using appropriate data tools.
Conduct follow-up calls to clients.
Provide HIV service referral during enrolment and assessment.
Provide linkage to treatment facilities and effective bi-directional referral system and follow up at facility and community levels.
Identify and address gaps in bilateral referral system.
Design realistic innovative interventions for ensuring successful sustainable referral cycles including application of technology and basic communication tools.
Perform other duties as may be assigned.
Required Core Skills:
Exceptional skills in capacity-building and training
Excellent communication skills, written and oral and ability to relate sensitively to diverse groups.
Ability to multi-task and work under pressure with tight timelines
Good report-writing skills.
Good interpersonal and team working skills.
Flexibility in working in diverse situations with unpredictable working hours.
Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members is required.
Highly developed computer skills with strong familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel are mandatory.