Accompanier’s Roles & Responsibilities

  1. For each patient, complete “Patient’s Living Circumstances Form” and “Accompanier Weekly Home Visitation Schedule” at first visit.
  1. Conduct daily home visits to deliver and observe direct swallowing of ART/Anti-TB medication by patient. Record on “Patient Treatment Card” at each visit.
  1. Summarize and submit home-visit notes in “Monthly Narrative Summary Report.” Submit “Monthly Narrative Summary Report” and “Patient Treatment Card” to Accompanier Supervisor monthly.
  1. Accompany the patient to clinic appointments. Bring all remaining pills and “Patient Treatment Card” to each visit.
  1. Have conversations regularly with patients to identify any problems they are having:
  • Health problems or difficulty taking medications
  • Nutritional problems
  • Family or social problems
  • Other health problems or possible referrals in community
  1. Provide moral and psychological support to patients and their families.
  1. Act as a general liaison between the clinic and the patient and refer patients with complications to the health center.
  1. Perform active case finding (e.g. encourage testing of sexual partners, children, others in community) and awareness activities in patient’s community.
  1. Deliver social support (e.g. food packages) to patients most in-need.
  1. Promote early care seeking for other family or community members with illnesses (e.g. diarrhea, anemia, fever, prolonged cough). Notify accompanier leader of any sick community members who are unable to come to the health center.
  1. Serve on stand-by once per month to help trace patients in case of missed monthly appointment.
  1. Come to the health center twice per month. Once to attend accompanier meeting/training and once more with patient for his/her monthly clinical visit.
  1. Embrace new responsibilities and training for care of other general health concerns (e.g. tuberculosis, insecticide-treated net distribution, anemia screening).

SERVE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH EMPATHY, COMPASSION AND DIGNITY

Accompanier Leader’s Roles & Responsibilities

  1. Visit all new patients during the first month, and once every two months thereafter. Ensure that they are followed by an accompanier to ensure safe, accurate and effective delivery of directly observed treatment. For each visit to a patient, complete home visit form “For Accompanier Leader Visiting a Patient.” Submit this form to the accompanier supervisor.
  1. Conduct home visits, as needed, to patients with whom your accompaniers are having difficulty (e.g. problems with adherence, social problems, understanding disease). Complete home visit form “For Accompanier Leader Visiting a Patient”. Submit this form to the accompanier supervisor.
  1. Visit each of your accompaniers once per month, to monitor and offer advice on accompaniers’ activities. For each visit to an accompanier, complete home visit form “For Accompanier Leader Visiting an Accompanier”. Submit this form to the accompanier supervisor.
  1. Summarize and submit home-visit notes in “Monthly Narrative Summary Report.” Submit “Monthly Narrative Summary Report” to accompanier supervisor monthly.
  1. Report any problems with accompaniers’ or patients’ activities (e.g. accompanier not delivering medications daily) to the accompanier supervisor immediately.
  1. Attend and help accompanier supervisor facilitate new accompanier trainings and workshops.
  1. Attend weekly staff meetings, weekly accompanier leadership meetings, monthly accompanier meetings, and Tiyatien General Meetings.
  1. Ensure tracing of patients who have missed scheduled clinic appointments.

SERVE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH EMPATHY, COMPASSION AND DIGNITY

Accompanier Supervisor’s Roles & Responsibilities

  1. Serve as a link between clinical providers, the accompaniers and patients. Ensure all providers are enrolling newly diagnosed HIV patients into HEI’s comprehensive care program (e.g. accompaniers, transportation stipends, food packages).
  1. Conduct home visits as requested by accompaniers, accompanier leaders or patients to help resolve difficulties. At each visit, complete and submit patient home visit form “For Nurse Aid Visiting a Patient” to the HEI project coordinator.
  1. Ensure accompaniers return any unused medicines, collect new medicines and receive incentive each month.
  1. Review and ensure accurate completion of accompaniers’ reports and patient treatment cards each month. Make and record any incentive deductions according to “Accompanier Payment Rules and Policies” and submit payment request to finance officer.
  1. Ensure patients’ receipt of food packages and transportation stipends.
  1. Organize, schedule and attend monthly trainings for new accompaniers as well as monthly meetings and ongoing trainings for current accompaniers.
  1. Organize tracing of patients who miss monthly appointments and notify accompanier leaders and HEI medical coordinator.
  1. Collect, record, and report summary statistics on monthly basis to HEI’s project coordinator.
  1. Ensure proper collection and storage of patient records and forms.
  1. Terminate employment, with due reason, of any accompaniers who are not performing their duties safely, accurately and timely.
  1. Attend weekly staff meetings, weekly accompanier leadership meetings, monthly accompanier meetings, and Tiyatien General Meetings.
  1. Present summary of weekly statistics at weekly staff meetings.
  1. Preside over weekly accompanier leadership meetings and submit the minutes for the meetings to the project coordinator.

SERVE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH EMPATHY, COMPASSION AND DIGNITY