Healthright Podcast

Frontline Health Workers

HealthRight and I AM GPH have partnered to bring you this 4-part podcast series profiling four different Frontline health workers (FHWs) and their work in four different countries. As a global health NGO focused on health system strengthening for marginalized populations, much of HealthRight's work is devoted to building the capacity of FHWs to better meet the needs of the communities they serve. These are some of those stories. This podcast series is hosted by Dr. Peter Navario, Executive Director of HealthRight and Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's College of Global Public Health. 

Frontline health workers (FHWs) play an essential role in the prevention, identification and response to ill-health globally. For marginalized communities in particular, FHWs are the only link between them and the health system. Investment in FHWs has been shown to be a highly cost-effective way to ensure healthier, safer communities around the world. 

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EPISODE 1Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Anna Koroliova, Odessa, Ukraine
Project Profile: Addressing Gender-based Violence in Conflict-Affected Areas of Ukraine
One of the many consequences of the long simmering conflict in Ukraine is an increased incidence of gender-based violence (GBV). Anna is a psychologist who leads one of HealthRight's GBV mobile teams (there are 46 across Ukraine) in the Odessa region that identifies, treats, triages and documents cases of GBV. Anna is an FHW and this is her story.
I AM GPH
Healthright & I AM GPH Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Anna Koroliova, Odessa, Ukraine

 

EPISODE 2Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Jeremy Silverman, PhD, New York, NY, USA
Project Profile: Assisting children and adolescent survivors of violence seeking asylum in the US
There has been a spike in the number of women and children fleeing violence and seeking asylum in the United States. HealthRight's Human Rights Clinic, based in NYC, assists asylum seekers who have survived violence and human rights violations by providing forensic examinations, which document the physical and psychological signs of violence. Dr. Silverman is a clinical psychologist and volunteer with the Human Rights Clinic who conducts forensic exams for child and adolescent survivors of violence. He is a FHW and this is his story.
I AM GPH
Healthright & I AM GPH Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Jeremy Silverman, PhD, New York, NY, USA

 

EPISODE 3Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Safina Yusuf, Uganda
Project Profile: Building Mental Health Capacity in Uganda
Northern Uganda is home to one of the largest refugee settlements in the world. The majority of refugees residing there are South Sudanese women and children who have fled conflict and violence. While there are limited data on the mental health needs in this population, HealthRight has observed high rates of depression, anxiety and PTSD among refugees residing in these settlements. In this episode, we speak with Safina Yusuf, a Ugandan HealthRight interventionist who is working to implement an intervention called, Self-Help Plus (SH+), which is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy that addresses psychological distress resulting from significant adversity without relying on trained mental health professionals. Safina discusses her view from the front lines of the global mental health response: life in the settlement, her work building mental health capacity, and Self-Help Plus (SH+).
I AM GPH
Healthright & I AM GPH Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Safina Yusuf, Uganda

 

EPISODE 4Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Salim Furaha, Kenya
Project Profile: HIV Prevention and Care for Male Sex Workers in eastern Kenya
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has identified men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and sex workers as priority populations for HIV prevention, care and treatment services given their heightened risk. Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP as it's more commonly known, is a medicine that prevents HIV infection and holds significant potential for reducing HIV incidence, particularly among groups that are at high risk of infection. In this episode I speak with Salim Furaha, who is a sex worker and peer educator in eastern Kenya, working on a HealthRight-sponsored PrEP project in order to assess its impact on the local sex worker community. Salim discusses his view from the front lines of the HIV response: how and why he became a peer educator, what a peer educator does, and why PrEP is an important HIV prevention tool in his community. 
I AM GPH
Healthright & I AM GPH Healthright Frontline Health Workers: Salim Furaha, Kenya