The George Institute for Global Health India’s Health
Accelerator and the Vihara Innovation Network undertook a
collaboration to uncover the psychosocial health challenges
of female frontline health workers in Andhra Pradesh.
The purpose of the collaboration was to gain insights on
the psychosocial needs of frontline healthcare workers
(FLWs) from an urban and rural context during the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic. A key objective was to conduct
participatory design workshops across Visakhapatnam
and Srikakulam district that would inform a technical
report highlighting areas of challenges and subsequent
recommendations that would help develop targeted
interventions to offer psychosocial support to frontline
healthcare workers.
These community-based participatory design workshops
aimed to capture, document and lead to an understanding of
the challenges faced by FLWs in a safe space and in particular,
to qualitatively discern their concerns and vulnerabilities.
Eighteen (18) participants -- purposively selected ASHAs
and ANMs -- from both urban and rural geographies were
brought together in these workshops. The insights from these
workshops have been used to outline recommendations for
all stakeholders, including policy-makers, to respond to the
psychosocial needs of frontline workers.
This report is the analysis of data gathered through
participatory exercises and interactions, from the three
workshops, with focus on challenges shared by each frontline
worker that pave the way for recommendations and areas
for intervention. The following table illustrates the workshop
proceedings for each of the batches between the 16th and
18th of September 2021.
George Institute / Vihara Innovation Network
Health Innovations for Psychosocial Support for Frontline Workers
2023
Public Health, Social Development, Mental Health, Branding