{"id":92175,"date":"2023-07-11T10:04:21","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/?p=92175"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:25:13","slug":"health-data-informs-more-effective-health-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/stories\/health-data-informs-more-effective-health-actions\/","title":{"rendered":"Les donn\u00e9es sur la sant\u00e9 \u00e9clairent des actions sanitaires plus efficaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

by: Heather Grbic \u2013 ADRA Canada, with Veblen May Reynes \u2013 ADRA Philippines<\/em><\/p>\n

Marife \u2013 A Woman of Many Talents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marife Relos is very involved in the coastal barangay of Penitan in Siruma, Camarines Sur, in the Philippines. At 50, she is nowhere near slowing down. Not only is she a barangay health worker, but she also works at the local daycare. When her barangay chose to participate in the TOGETHER[1]<\/a> project, Marife took on another role.<\/p>\n

TOGETHER \u2013 Protecting and Uplifting Health Rights <\/strong><\/p>\n

The TOGETHER project, with generous funding from Global Affairs Canada, is working to ensure that the most vulnerable \u2013 especially girls and women \u2013 can exercise their health-related human rights. TOGETHER partners with communities in Cambodia, Kenya, the Philippines, and Uganda to tackle obstacles that stand in the way of health and well-being for all. With most communities being remote, the obstacles can be numerous.<\/p>\n

One way TOGETHER takes on the challenge is through its Community-led Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (ColMEAL) initiative. This is a training program that equips communities with the knowledge and tools they need to address challenges in their communities and find their own solutions.<\/p>\n

Marife is now the ColMEAL chairperson in her barangay.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> uniting Towards Gender Equality for enjoyment of women\u2019s and girls\u2019 Total HEalth and Rights<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

How does ColMEAL Work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marife and the barangay leaders underwent ColMEAL training with ADRA. They then brought their knowledge and skills back to their barangay. They invited members of the community to join the barangay\u2019s ColMEAL team.<\/p>\n

What does a ColMEAL team do?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the ones who survey and evaluate cases related to early pregnancy, early marriage, and also violence against women and children,\u201d explains Marife.<\/p>\n

In broader terms, the ColMEAL team gathers data related to sexual health and human rights (SHRH) and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the community.<\/p>\n

The team began by making indicators that would help them gain a better understanding of SRHR and SGBV in the barangay. They then went to work, conducting house-to-house surveys, and mapping out the data. The surveys focused especially on households with youth ages 12-19.<\/p>\n

Health Information Leads to Informed Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ColMEAL team\u2019s efforts are gleaning important insights into practices and attitudes in the community that are harmful to the vulnerable. One surprised Marife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I really learned from the survey and evaluation was that adolescent girls should be sleeping separately from their male relatives. We found out that violence and abuses happen when they don\u2019t have separate sleeping quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insights such as this are invaluable. They can inform the action plans of the barangay leaders and healthcare providers, ensuring the information, education, and care they give is relevant, inclusive, and effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s really important to know all the data,\u201d says Marife. \u201cEven though the weather is bad, or sometimes there\u2019s too much work, we still do it because it\u2019s very important. Especially in the cases of teenage pregnancy, so we can lay out some plans and give solutions for those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Healthier Communities Today and Tomorrow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using the information it gathers, ColMEAL brings communities together to strategize solutions to problems.<\/p>\n

Marife\u2019s barangay is using the data to better inform healthcare providers, barangay leaders, and the community at large on issues related to SRHR, SGBV, and the health-related human rights of all.<\/p>\n

They also actively collaborate with government agencies to facilitate the development of more efficient data and solutions for issues that require immediate attention. This valuable cooperation ensures a more comprehensive approach and leads to meaningful outcomes.<\/p>\n

ColMEAL is putting knowledge and power in community hands, assets that endure beyond the project. Instead of the decision-makers traditionally leading the barangay to development, the process of CoLMEAL is being done and owned by the community members for their voice to be heard and be prioritized.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

If knowledge is power, then knowing how to effectively collect, analyze, and act on data will empower communities to pursue health and well-being for all well into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful to ADRA and Global Affairs Canada for picking this barangay as one of the partners and for implementing the ColMEAL program,\u201d shares Marife. \u201cI\u2019m hoping it can continue so we can learn more and give solutions to our problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the clear benefits to the community at large, the members of the ColMEAL team have gained something a little more personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the people participating are also thankful, especially since some of the members only finished high school. They have higher self-esteem now. They are more confident now that they can help with finding solutions to the problems in the barangay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you for making transformational work like this possible!<\/p>\n

by: Heather Grbic \u2013 ADRA Canada, with Veblen May Reynes \u2013 ADRA Philippines<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marife Relos est tr\u00e8s impliqu\u00e9e dans le barangay c\u00f4tier de Penitan \u00e0 Siruma, Camarines Sur, aux Philippines. \u00c0 50 ans, elle est loin de ralentir. Non seulement elle est une sant\u00e9 de barangay \u2026 lire la suite<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":92177,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[102,145,103],"class_list":["post-92175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-health","tag-news-and-stories","tag-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devsite.adra.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}