mentors for community health

Mentors for Community health was a women-led intervention to spearhead TB case detection, prevention and care in Tamil Nadu. Through this project, REACH empowered women to become ‘Community Health Mentors’ and ‘Women TB Leaders’ who are trusted providers of health information and act as gateways to care. REACH implemented this two-year project in four districts of Tamil Nadu - Vellore, Villupuram, Salem and Tirunelveli - with support from the Stop TB Partnership through a TB REACH Wave 7 grant. 

The project had two arms - one led by the Women TB Leaders, who undertook screening at health facilities. This aided in case detection, treatment initiation and holistic person-centered care for people with TB. The second arm was led by Community Health Mentors, who were involved in organising and conducting community meetings to create awareness on TB and reduce stigma associated with TB. The creation of a cadre of women, in effect, established a skilled female workforce at the district level who could potentially contribute to the health of communities in the long term.

A key innovation under the project was the CALL for Health (Continuous Access to Learning Line). REACH reached out to community volunteers engaged in various projects for a needs assessment of what information could be considered empowering. Based on the topics suggested by the women volunteers, podcast-style content was developed and broadcast, in partnership with Gram Vaani.