Community Health Quality Improvement Officer 206 views

Description

Position Title: Community Health Quality Improvement Officer
Reports to: Community Health Program Technical Lead
Location: Maryland

Position Overview:
The primary responsibility of the Quality Improvement Officer is to support and accompany the MOH with quality implementation and operationalization of the Community Health Promoter (CHP) Program within the catchment communities of his/her assigned health facilities. The Quality Improvement Officer will be assigned to specific health facilities, and work at the community, facility, and district level by serving as a focal point person to liaise with the Community Health Nurses, Community Health Services Supervisors, Officers-in-Charge, District Health Officer, and Community Health Focal Person and provide leadership, training coordination, and quality improvement support for the CHP Program. S/he is expected to be an expert on the CHP Program and its policies and procedures, and to ensure such procedures are executed in the field.

 Job Responsibilities:

1. Recruitment, Training and Quality Improvement (QI)
   1. Support community engagement meetings with Community Health Committees (CHCs) for recruitment of additional CHPs and CHP Supervisors
   2. Proctor literacy tests and oral interviews for recommended CHP candidates
   3. Facilitate baseline and refresher CHP and CHP Supervisor trainings
   4. Compile and present perceived knowledge, performance, and implementation fidelity gap assessments of CHPs and CHP Supervisors based on regular Supervision, Mentorship and Spot Checks as well as feedback from clinicians at the health facility, and share with Community Health Program leadership at CHT and Partner Organizations to develop additional or refresher trainings or other potential innovative solutions
2. Supervision and Mentorship
   1. Provide regular, on-the-job supportive supervision and mentorship for CHP Supervisors and CHPs during Monthly Supervision, Mentorship and Spot Check visits
   2. Attend monthly meetings with CHP Supervisors and occasionally attend monthly meetings with CHPs
   3. Ensure quality of accompaniment and psychosocial support through Patient and/or Household Satisfaction Audits
   4. Troubleshoot challenges with Community Health Nurses, CHP Supervisors, CHPs, and households/patients
3. Community and Health Facility Integration
   1. Build relationship with health facility clinicians
   2. Collaborate with clinical supervisors and health facility leadership to ensure buy-in and adherence to CHP program protocols by clinicians and laboratory staff, such as color code assignments, TRACE, completion of Referral and Escort Forms, and community TB sputum collection and HIV testing
   3. Coordinate with County Depot and Program Team to ensure CHNs, CHP Supervisors, and CHPs have the necessary logistics (supplies, equipment, and tools) needed to effectively carry out their roles and responsibilities
   4. Provide technical and leadership support for the development of a system of accountability and participatory management in implementing the CHP program through attendance and coordination of weekly/monthly/quarterly review meetings to review and assess program implementation
   5. Attend monthly Health Facility Development Committee (HFDC) meeting to strengthen community-based health initiatives
   6. Identify disease hot spots throughout Harper City through discussion with health facility clinical supervisors to schedule targeted integrated outreach sessions with the most acute need to improve timely case detection of HIV, TB, NCD, and other priority health conditions
   7. Work with health facility clinical supervisors to provide mentorship for Community Health Nurses to improve their clinical skills
4. Data aggregation
   1. Present key performance indicators for his/her assigned catchment area and CHPs and CHP Supervisors to CHT and health facility leadership at monthly/quarterly review meetings
   2. Participate in data quality assessments
5. Care Coordination, Defaulter Tracking, and Contact Tracing
   1. Coordinate closely with HIV, TB, NCD, maternity, pediatric, and mental health clinic staff to ensure timely and quality care provision of patients
   2. In collaboration with the aforementioned clinical teams, supervise timely tracing of defaulters by CHP Supervisors and/or CHPs
   3. Support joint contact tracing efforts by health facility staff and CHPs or CHP Supervisors for early detection and prevention of infectious diseases
6. Other Administrative and Operational Duties
   1. Keep accurate written records of all program activities that happen in his/her assigned catchment area
   2. Ensure and manage safe storage of CHP program documents, such as Health Facility Care Coordination Ledger, and CHP and CHP supervisor monthly reports with the M&E team
   3. Provide monthly work plans to the Officer In-Charge and CHP program leadership and report on progress

• Carry out other duties as assigned from time to time
• Ability to live in Harper, Liberia full-time required.

Qualifications and Key Success Factors:

Academic Qualification:

• Clinical credential (Registered Nurse or Physician Assistant) with working knowledge in the following areas:
• Essential primary health care (community-based disease surveillance, integrated community case management, reproductive, maternal and neonatal health).
• HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, mental health, and neglected tropical disease management in contexts of high stigma.

Technical Competencies

• Clinical experience working at the facility or community-level in rural settings for at least 2-3 years.
• Must have experience in training and workshop facilitation, preferably with low-literacy audiences; experience in quality improvement works is also an added advantage.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills required.
• Experience in management and supervision of community-based field teams.
• Ability to travel by motorbike for fieldwork, including outreach, community engagement, and supervision of CHP Supervisors and CHPs.
• Confidence working in a community setting with a variety of people and stakeholders.
• Experience managing health projects – especially projects where risk of stigma and transmission are high.
• Experience developing or refining Community Health Worker training materials within the Liberian context preferred.
• Experience collecting and analyzing data.
• Strong communication skills required.
• Good computer literacy skills: must demonstrate competence in the use of MS Office Programs, in particular MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Internet literacy is an added advantage.
• A high degree of English fluency required.

Behavioral Competencies

• Ability to maintain confidential information in a professional manner.
• Interpersonal Skill – Strong people and communication skills, open, accommodative and pleasant personality.
• Team Management – Team player, ability to manage, motivate, and lead a dynamic team.
• A skilled collaborator who is able to work effectively with diverse communities.
• Commitment to health and social justice, and the mission of Partners In Health.

Organizational Profile 

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. 

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world. 

 Partners In Health (PIH) is committed to the fundamental principle of equal opportunity and equal treatment for every prospective and current employee. It is the policy of PIH not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion, creed, disability, sex and gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. PIH works in and with a number of governments in and outside the U.S., and to the extent applicable, this statement is intended to incorporate the prohibition of any unlawful discrimination covered by applicable laws in such countries, states and municipalities.