Guide for Community Assessments on Women's Health Care - ICRW

Additional Activity: Site Visit to Health Facilities
Facilitator’s Note: This activity involves a visit to facilities providing services to women (e.g., clinics,
hospitals, shelters <strong>for</strong> battered women, rape crisis center, etc). During the visit you will interview staff
and tour the facilities. This will give you a better sense of the facilities and services in the area, as well
as service gaps and barriers limiting women’s access.
This is a good activity to involve MPs, who can help with the observation and data collection.
Things to Guard Against: Show interest in what clinic staff are doing and solicit their opinions
about health care issues, so the interview does not feel like an interrogation. A friendly and in<strong>for</strong>mal
approach to the interviews will help encourage staff to talk openly about their work, women’s health
problems and the challenges they face as health workers.
Objectives:
●●
Collect firsthand in<strong>for</strong>mation on health facilities.
Time: 60 minutes
Materials: Checklist <strong>for</strong> Observation and Interviews (see next page)
Preparation: Contact the manager of the health facility in advance to get permission <strong>for</strong> a visit
(including a tour and interviews).
Steps:
➊ SITE VISIT: Meet with the head of the institution and thank him/her <strong>for</strong> hosting the visit. Ask to
be shown around the facilities and then to interview some of the staff. If the visiting team is large,
split into smaller teams and get each team to talk to a different member of staff. Use the checklist to
guide the interviews. Take notes during the interviews.
There is a lot to be learned simply by careful observation of how things are done in the health
facilities: How long do patients wait in line to see a doctor? Are there stigmatizing signs? How are
patients treated? Is confidentiality protected?
➋ RECORDING: After the visit meet with the whole team to share observations and in<strong>for</strong>mation
collected. Make a record of this meeting and your joint observations.
50 Chapter C: Facilitating <strong>Community</strong> Assessment Workshops