The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is training health care workers (HCWs) from an additional 4 facilities in Person Centred Care (PCC) skills.

This is part of the Leveraging Person Centered Care study – a stepped wedged parallel cluster randomized trial being conducted in 24 facilities in Lusaka province. The training will equip HCWs with the necessary skills to provide quality health care to patients while fostering teamwork among their peers. With the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes such as engagement in care and ultimately reduced mortality, this training will give HCWs the skills to improve their efficiency in the workplace while improving staff wellbeing.

The training has drawn HCWs from Chipata level 1 hospital, Chelstone , Lilayi and Kamwala Clinics. It  offers HCWs an opportunity to discuss their attitudes towards patients, which was identified as a barrier to engagement during the BetterInfo study, and other health system based barriers to care such as shorter drug refills and long queues, which can be resolved within the health facility through shared decision making with patients (treating patients as partners in their own health).

The HCWs are also being imparted with knowledge on stress management skills, other PCC skills such as coordinated care (working as a team to help patients access the care they need), problem solving & professional empathy (understanding patient problems) and good communication with patients.

The trained HCWs will be mentored by CIDRZ-PCC facility mentors to ensure the skills are being implemented. Other activities that are part of the mentor’s intervention include follow up training workshops within the facility aimed at enhancing patient centred care understanding in a real world setting.