Where Barriers to Children’s Health Collapse: A Year of Thinking + Doing
How can we help improve children’s health in a country where they face countless barriers to health care and nutrition?
Many young children in Sierra Leone do not receive any health services after finishing their immunizations at 23 months of age. About four in 10 will have stunted growth, and few will have access to potentially lifesaving nutritional information. The country has been politically stable since 2017, but its health infrastructure remains broken. At such a vital stage of development, children have not received the care they need.
Project SHINE! (Supporting Healthy Interaction, Nurturing, and Enrichment for Preschool Children) aimed to show communities a way forward to improved childhood health through “wraparound health services.” The innovative pilot project, supported and funded by Columbia World Projects, involved researchers from ICAP at Columbia University partnering with the government of Sierra Leone on a holistic approach to improving health for children at an early childhood development center.
The goal was a holistic solution that both addressed immediate health needs and improved their overall well-being.
"SHINE has truly transformed our lives. Our children’s health has improved significantly, and they have gained invaluable skills about nutrition and hygiene, which they’re eager to practice at home."
- John Sahr J. Manga, father of five-year-old Sia
Our efforts included:
+ A new health unit
+ Household visits from community health workers, who provided education, preventive care tips, screenings and referrals
+ Community health days
+ A nutritional teaching garden
+ Establishing connections to local health facilities and nutrition support
All of that work connected with 288 children and 251 households.
Project SHINE! has provided lessons for how Sierra Leone can better integrate health and nutrition services into preschools nationwide, playing a role in new national policies and laying a foundation to share these strategies across the country.
Still curious? Continue reading.
From Pilot to Policy: SHINE Project Transforms Early Childhood Development in Sierra Leone
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