Building the capacity of Mentor Mothers through a 16-year collaboration with mothers2mothers
A 16-year collaboration focused on making sure no child is born with HIV and mothers are able to live long and healthy lives.
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Objectives
The current project aims to provide vulnerable communities access to high quality healthcare, and consequently, experience improved health and well-being in Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa, through strengthening the role of community health workers.
Our Approach
Through our Mentor Mother Model, m2m employs local women living with HIV as Frontline Health Workers. These “Mentor Mothers” dramatically improve the health and wellbeing of women ages 15-49, children ages 0-9 and adolescents ages 10-24.
Our Efforts
Over the course of 16 years, the Johnson & Johnson Foundation has collaborated with mothers2mothers to ensure that vulnerable communities across sub-Saharan Africa have access to high quality healthcare, and consequently, experience improved health and well-being. The current project is focused in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa and aims to strengthen the role of community health workers (CHWs) in increasing demand, uptake and timely utilization of integrated RMNCAH/ECD services. m2m is advancing the role of m2m Mentor Mothers in delivery of high-quality, people-centered care to the families and communities they serve. With this, m2m is strengthening our integrated emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a pivot to deliver eServices (peer-via-phone and m2m’s innovative Virtual Mentor Mother Platform) where face-to-face services were, and continue to be, disrupted by lockdowns or other emergency situations. m2m is further consolidating this hybrid model to ensure that clients receive differentiated face-to-face and/or eServices aligned to their risk profile and essential health and information needs.
We are continuing to build the capacity of Mentor Mothers to deliver comprehensive, quality and integrated RMNCAH, ECD, non-communicable disease (NCD) services, screening for tuberculosis (TB) and referrals to clients using m2m’s proven peer approach across m2m’s facility-community service platform with enhanced messaging and information on COVID-19, primary health and family wellbeing.
m2m is also developing and piloting a self-care intervention, with integration of a self-care module into m2m’s VMMP and roll out of a digital self-care log that assists clients to adopt WHO’s recommended self-care guidelines, including self-monitoring and client satisfaction feedback mechanisms. The project is leveraging the prior generous support of the Johnson & Johnson Foundation to enhance m2m digital health systems for optimal client management, robust performance management and strategic information purposes. The project is also supporting m2m’s advocacy for the role of Mentor Mothers as effective CHWs on the frontlines of healthcare, through strengthening the Mentor Mother Spokesperson network, publishing evidence-based operations research, and participating in Global and National Technical Working Groups and other key platforms.
Geographic Reach
- Africa
Disease Area
- Infectious and Parasitic Disease
- Women’s and Child Health
Target Population
- Children
- Women
Partner organizations
Johnson & Johnson Foundation
Geographic Reach
Africa
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Uganda
- Zambia
Disease Area
Infectious and Parasitic Disease
- HIV/AIDS
Women’s and Child Health
- Children's Health
- Women's Health