Medical mission to Haiti scheduled as The C14 Foundation announces plans to produce Creole-langage patient education videos
Instructional materials will aim to help Haitian patients understand pre- and post-operation instructions, hypertension and blood glucose issues, and how compliance with prescribed medication regimens alongside proper diet and exercise relates to improved outcomes and increased health
The C14 Foundation made two announcements this week. The first, that the Foundation Board of Directors approved a donation of $30,000 to Blue Sky Surgical, a non-profit organization with the sole mission of providing free surgeries and medical care to patients in Haiti. “We share information about this incredible team on the Foundation website,” says Martina Molsbergen Tamaro, Founder of The C14 Foundation. “We will be making more donations in the near future because their incredible work is so desperately needed for the poor and impoverished of Haiti, so please stand by.”
The volunteer team at Blue Sky Surgical will travel to Haiti on Oct 30 – Nov 9. The traveling team of 20 will include surgeons, anesthesiologists, pre- and post-op nurses, operating-room nurses, and logistics. “Although this team is smaller than the core team that usually travels to Haiti in March, Haiti is desperate for medical mission teams to come back sooner than next year,” explains Tamaro. “Because the security risk for travelers to Haiti had been on high alert (4 status), many mission teams have not gone in a very long while. Hence, the people of Haiti are in dire need of medical treatment.” The Blue Sky Surgical team will work out of the Double Harvest Clinic in Croix des Bouquets, which is just outside of the Port au Prince city limits.
The Foundation’s second announcement stems from Tamaro’s experience as a medical mission volunteer. Not only will Tamaro join the volunteer medical mission team as the group photographer and journaler in both November and March, she will begin preliminary work on creating patient education materials to aid in the efforts of medical missions to Haiti. “As many of the poor of Haiti are illiterate, I feel that there would be tremendous value in showing videos in their native language of Creole, which demonstrate how a patient should take care of him- or herself – providing instructions on how to follow the treatment plan prescribed,” Tamaro explains.
“I noticed when I began volunteering at the St Jude Clinic fours years ago, that approximately 70% of the 1,000 patients treated at our clinic over a four-day period had very high blood pressure and/or glucose issues and were in immediate need of medication. Even though the medical team was giving them a 30-day supply of medication, there was no assurance that the patient was going to follow the instructions, nor understand the instructions, which were basically provided in English. More so, many patients expressed the attitude that if they took the 30-day supply of medication they would be “cured” of their high blood pressure, for example. They did not understand that they must always be on medication to control their condition and reduce their risk of complications.”
“Treating so many patients in a short time, you can imagine that the team ran terribly short of the necessary medicines required to treat these patients,” shared Tamaro. “Our mission doctors are of the opinion that no patient should be given less than a 90-day supply otherwise there is little point in taking the medication. Even when patients are advised to return to the clinic in 30 days, most do not.”
Tamaro is in early development with a high-level plan for producing patient education pamphlets, instructional clinic posters, and ultimately, videos in Creole. These materials would be reviewed with each patient after he or she is seen by the medical team.
Additionally, Tamaro has engaged with Blue Sky Surgical and other stakeholders to develop methods of tracking patient information and treatment cards, with the optimal goal of a medical information card issued to each patient. This innovation requires training and commitment from patients, clinics, and staff. Tamaro suggests “Involving stakeholders in the process – even videotaping doctors at the clinic – may help providers feel even more valued and empowered in their efforts to improve medical care for the people of Haiti.”
