Project profile

CARE has worked with the Ministry of Health and Cambodian communities since 1991  to respond to Cambodia’s critical health needs.

 

The Australian government-funded  project (PSL) worked with frontline health service providers and a range of other partners in the provinces, and directly with some of the hardest to reach and most vulnerable communities with the most critical reproductive, maternal and neonatal health (RMNH) needs. The work of PSL aimed to generate models of service delivery and demand creation that have the potential for scale-up and replication across the count.

 

The project focused on improvements in:

• increasing demand and reducing barriers to access to healthcare, and

• access to, and quality of, health care services.

 

Objective

​To save the lives of women and newborns in Cambodia through improved quality, access and utilisation of reproductive, maternal and neonatal health services through a partnership approach.

 

Key activities

Project activities include:

• Creation of the innovative Chat! Contraception package, a set of tools consisting of interactive sessions, video dramas, and a mobile quiz app which aims to help female garment workers to learn about their contraceptive options so they can make informed decisions and prevent unwanted pregnancies.

• Support health facilities to meet and maintain Ministry of Health standards including facility assessments, infection control, equipment and materials and workplace safety and security for midwives

• Strengthen workforce competencies including peer feedback and on the job coaching;

• Strengthen the referral system between communities and health service providers for emergency  and  non-emergency  cases  including  support  to  transport  and communication systems

• Improve linkages with local authorities and stakeholders

• Support reducing financial barriers to access health services by implementing financial schemes that meet the varying health service needs of the target population

• Develop  and  implement  a  comprehensive  behaviour  change  communication  (BCC)

• strategy

• Facilitate community mobilisation and engagement through peer provider and support networks,   capacity   development  of   village   health   support   group   members   and

• community based distributors

• Develop a program-wide learning agenda, supporting evidence based research

 

Impact:

 

Learning Package 1: 

• Improving service quality overview >

• Fostering inclusive healthcare environments for vulnerable clients >

• Supporting reproductive choices with long-acting contraception >

• Strengthening provision of comprehensive abortion care in Cambodia >

• Coaching for quality improvement >

• Equipping midwives to provide life-saving newborn care >

• Strengthening collaboration between midwives to improve patient care >

 

Learning Package 2:

• Community strengthening and engagement overview >

• Encouraging positive maternal and newborn health behaviours in remote communities >

• Engaging men in reproductive, maternal and newborn health >

• Working together to save lives: TBA-Midwife Alliance >

• Community health volunteers: bridging the gap between knowledge and action >

• Community referral systems: catalysing client journeys from home to the health centre >

• Village Saving and Loans Associations: saving money to save lives >

 

Learning Package 3:

• Garment Factories overview >

• Chat! Contraception: an innovative, multimedia approach to empowering women >

• Garment factory infirmaries: offering workers quality-assured reproductive health services >

• PSL referral directory: helping workers reach appropriate care >

 

Learning Package 4:

• Knowledge into policy overview >

• Enabling inclusive health education and care for women with disabilities >

• Sharing our results: findings from the Partnering to Save Lives final program evaluation >

• Lessons learned from a partnership approach >

• Adolescent pregnancy in Cambodia’s northeast >