Table 1.
Projects within this South African-Canadian partnership: Interventions implemented for impact at different scalesa
Scale project | MICRO outputs- health worker e.g. Professionals, allied workers | MESO outputs- workplace e.g. Hospital, laboratory, clinic | MACRO outputs -jurisdiction e.g. Province, national entity |
---|---|---|---|
1. Occupational Health and Safety Information System (OHASIS) | Health workers familiar with procedures to protect their health & safety; health workers better able to promote healthy work environments. | System established in numerous hospital workplaces, clinics & laboratories to provide information to OH professionals & facility decision-makers to support a healthy work environment. | Policies & technical support provided to provincial decision-makers for sustainably maintaining healthy work environment; & technology transfer to national partner for ongoing work with provinces. |
2. Certificate programme for training health workers (see Table 2 for details) | Health workers more skilled and confident to prevent & manage HIV and TB risk in the workplace, including how to conduct & evaluate workplace interventions. | Systems and innovations implemented to better prevent and manage blood-borne and airborne infectious disease (especially TB) in workplaces of the trainees. | Policies, support and oversight for actions to prevent & control TB risk in the workplace conveyed to provincial authorities through presentations by trainees. |
3. TB infection control tools, policies and procedures | Health workers more skilled and confident in taking steps to prevent and control TB risk in the workplace, including how to conduct workplace interventions. | Policies to prevent and control TB workplace risk; & systems implemented (pilot in 28 hospitals in Free State, plus one in Gauteng & one in Western Cape) | Policies and technical support for actions to prevent & control TB risk in the workplace directly discussed with Provincial executive to be implemented beyond the hospital level, and with direct coordination with national policies. (See Table 3 for Free State policies developed) |
aThe scale where primary emphasis for each project is targeted is noted by bold; i.e. for project #1, while all levels were affected, the primary focus of intervention is at the meso (workplace); project #2 the focus was on training health workers, so the scale is micro (individual) although clearly with the intent of having impact at the workplace and ultimately provincially and nationally; project #3 targeted both the hospital and provincial level in its implementations