Ghaned for Health

Ghaned for Health is a small NGO in the Netherlands

Our mission

The Ghaned for Health Foundation supports healthcare professionals in Ghana. We focus on setting up care programs for patients with diabetes and hypertension.

Our Goal

The aim of our project is to improve care for chronic diseases in Ghana. We do this by supporting regional hospitals in setting up and developing separate outpatient clinics for diabetes and hypertension.

Care for chronic diseases

Diabetes and Hypertension are an increasing problem in Ghana. This is evident from figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). Compared to a country like the Netherlands, there are also more complications. A number of factors play a role in this. It is often combined with other diseases such as infections. Accessibility of the right care is regularly a problem and unfamiliarity with diabetes and its consequences.

In 2009, during a study trip by Dutch healthcare workers to Ghana, contact was made with the regional hospital in Abura Dunkwa. During a visit to this hospital, mutual interest arose in a partnership on chronic diseases.

The health system in Ghana is mainly focused on the treatment of communicable diseases. The care for noncommunicable diseases differs from that of infectious diseases. 

Outpatient Clinic for Diabetes and Hypertension

A plan has been drawn up in consultation with the healthcare providers in Ghana. Both hospital employees and nurses from the CHPS were involved. 

The basis is to set up separate outpatient clinics for diabetes and high blood pressure. This is based on the Chronic Care Model.

Chronic Care model:

• separate policlinic in the region hospital for chronic diseases
• regularly check-ups patients by nurses in CHPS and in policlinic
• health education by nutritionists and health educators is an important part of the treatment.
• delegated care and collaboration between doctors, nurses and health educators in hospitals and CHPS 
• implementation of a protocol mentioning the responsibilities of region hospital and the CHPS
• health education and case finding in the villages

Contribution district hospitals and CHPS 

• wish to work according to the CCM model:
• training of staff
• organising diabetes clinics
• implementation CCM 
• up to date list with phone numbers of all participating doctors, nurses and health educators.

What can Ghaned for Health offer:

• Contribution Ghaned 
• Financing training
• Financing Health Education Materia
• financing BP meters and glucometers
• process management to support implementation of the Programme

Results in Abura Dunkwa en Twifo Praso

In recent years separate outpatient clinics have been set up first in Abura Dunkwa and later in Twifo Praso with the support of Ghaned. These were initially only for patients with diabetes, later also for people with hypertension. 

Ghaned could finance this with donations from individual people and co-financing by Cordaid and Wilde Ganzen (Wild Gooses).

Recently, we visited both places for an evaluation. Everyone is satisfied that the care for people with diabetes now takes place in the separate outpatient clinic and no longer in the OPD. This gives patients more structured care. 

There are certainly points for improvement. One of the challenges is how do you retain the knowledge and agreements that have been made. There are regular refresher courses for new employees in both places. But evaluation also showed that the sustainability of the project is still a concern. In setting up and developing a separate outpatient clinic, this is a challenge to make good agreements about.

Retrospective study of the effects of the Chronic Care Model

Over the past 2 years, Julius Waamsasiko, our contact person in Ghana, has conducted scientific research into the effects of working according to the Chronic Care model. It is a retrospective study in the hospitals of Abura Dunkwa and Twifo Praso, where separate outpatient clinics have been set up with our help. The set-up and training courses for this study were co-financed by Wilde Ganzen.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S0168822724006727?dgid=author