COVID-19 Emergency Response Project
Juzoor has partnered with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to provide healthcare facilities and vulnerable households in the West Bank with support needed to respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Juzoor is supporting healthcare facilities to address critical needs and strengthen their infection prevention control measures while also helping households to protect themselves and others through safe behaviors.
Target 1: Targeted health facilities effectively respond to COVID-19
Juzoor, along with CRS, mapped-out the different roles that government health care facilities were playing in the emergency response, conducted a readiness assessment to study how prepared these facilities are to respond to the pandemic. The project team focused on 15 total healthcare facilities and Juzoor was responsible for 11 governmental hospitals. Government hospitals were prioritized because of the full range of COVID-19 services offered (from triage to treatment) as well as their role in providing other medical services in a safe, COVID-19 responsive way; several government hospitals were also exclusively dedicated to COVID-19 treatment. Under this intervention, Juzoor coordinated with the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) to provide several needed trainings and completed the HCAC Health Care Certified Quality Practitioner (HCQP) Course to 11 Quality Inspection and Patients’ Safety MoH Personnel and 5 NGO hospitals personnel. In addition, Juzoor secured HCQP Recertification for 8 Quality Inspection and Patients’ Safety MoH Personnel and 3 personnel from the NGO Hospitals. Juzoor also conducted a training for 28 MoH quality improvement and infection control officers in MoH facilities on the HCAC assessment tool, along with 6 Juzoor staff.
Target 2: Targeted households practice safe behaviors that reduce the spread of COVID-19
Juzoor is improving infection prevention at the community level by supporting households to practice safe COVID-19 behaviors. During the pandemic, Juzoor and CRS developed a targeting strategy focused on households in Hebron and Bethlehem with a high COVID-19 exposure risk. Analysis at that time identified this group as those most at-risk of spreading the virus, especially as no other entity was actively providing messaging and support to individuals who had recently tested for COVID-19. Juzoor developed tailored messages relevant for this group, aligned to recommendations of the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) working group that included: 1) stay at home for 14 days, 2) monitor your symptoms, and 3) disinfect your home and personal items properly and tested recall and self-reported adherence to those practices two-weeks after promotion. Key interventions under this target included equipping community workers, coordinating with the government and cluster system, disseminating targeted messages, disseminating hygiene supplies.