Diabetic patients without caregivers, pregnant women who did not know they were and people living with diseases they did not have. Those and other circumstances have been detected with ‘well -being at your door’, a commitment to health whose purpose is that: to reach homes and patients, before the disease hits stronger. This is explained by Jorge Sánchez, National Risk Management Manager of Coosalud EPS, an entity that leads this program. (You may also be interested: Coosalud strengthens your network in Cartagena with new IPS)
Since December, streets of Barrios such as Olaya, San Francisco, Bocachica and San Isidro, in Cartagena, as well as in various municipalities of Bolívar, they have witnessed a new type of visit: basic health teams that do not wait for patients to look for them, but are going in their encounter, house by house, bringing attention, diagnosis, prevention and, above all, hope.
‘Welfare at your door’ was born as an answer to a painful reality: in many corners of the country, health is still a privilege and not a right. The program seeks to close gaps with a strategy that combines basic health teams, telemedicine, mobile units for rapid tests extramurally and intense community education.
“The impact is large, in Bolívar, for example, we have made 5,837 home visits in just three months to risk patients, 169 follow -ups to patients who had altered examinations and who, for some reason, had not claimed them. As well as the entire issue of health education. A cut of March 30, we had performed 7,560 educational sessions that include different topics, such as hands hygiene, respiratory disease or acute diarrheal disease, Warning signs in pregnancies, ”says Sánchez, while highlighting how they detected 47 early pregnancies in time, reducing risks for adolescent mothers and their babies. Silent stories, that without this intervention they had perhaps ended in tragedy.
Yimara Casanova Hernández, a patient in Coosalud pregnancy, explains that he has felt satisfaction for being able to receive ‘well -being at your door’, in the Bocachica district.
“The care during my pregnancy has been excellent, both for me and for my diet, which is low in fat and salt. In addition, I have been able to do ultrasound right here, in Bocachica, which is essential, since access is free and I save the cost of moving to Cartagena. Attention in controls, with the nutritionist, the talks, everything has been very positive,” he says.
More about the program
Jorge Sánchez explains that in each intervened neighborhood, teams made up of doctors, nurses, auxiliaries and vaccinators build more than diagnoses: trust.
when touching the door of a house, they evaluate risks, they apply tests, educate on hygiene, alert on alarm signs and accompany disease prevention processes such as cervical cancer, prostate, breast and colorectal.
The impact is tangible. Six cases of hepatitis B have been identified, ten cases of syphilis in pregnant women, making both they and their partners receive treatments, and a case of HIV in gestation, all intervened in time. “It’s not just detecting, it’s acting immediately,” says the manager.
Education, primordial
The strategy also has its eyes on the future: health education. From hand washing workshops to family planning sessions. The program seeks to sow in the community the necessary knowledge so that the next generations not only survive, but also live dignity.
“True transformation is to change the culture of health,” says Sánchez. And that begins with small gestures: teach a mother to identify the signs of a respiratory infection in her child, listen to a young man with doubts about her sexual health or avoid prevented death with something as simple as an early consultation.
Although the road just begins – Coosalud hopes to characterize 290,000 people this year in Bolívar – the results already tell stories of lives that changed thanks to an unexpected visit. Because when health touches your door, life too.
“As we live on an island near Cartagena, but far from medical services, this Coosalud program is a blessing. It is very important that they continue to come to our island so that all pregnant women can receive close attention and support. Thanks to Coosalud, we not only have medical control, but we also learn more about how to take care of our health and that of our babies,” (You may also be interested: announcement of Coosalud EPS for its affiliates in Cartagena)
