Our Approach

Partners In Health’s (PIH) approach to health care is engraved in treating a patient as a whole. The organization’s approach to health care service delivery is deeply rooted in the idea of holistic health care. 

Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care through two overarching medical and social goals: bringing the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and serving as an antidote to despair. 

In addressing all aspects of a patient’s life, the organization considers physical and mental health, social circumstances, and economic well-being as interconnected factors that contribute to the overall health of a person requiring health care support.

The organization acknowledges social determinants of health like poverty, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, and limited education as contributors to illness. When providing medical support, the organization works to address these social determinants to provide efficient and effective support.

Our comprehensive care model covers a wide range of services like mental health counseling, nutritional support, and social work alongside medical treatment. PIH implements and advocates for systems strengthening for Malawi to build a strong, well-functioning health system that provides universal, equitable, and integrated health service packages to all its citizens.

At the core of PIH’s healthcare service delivery system is building trust and relationships with patients. PIH Malawi treats patients as individuals that make up the community and strives to understand the uniqueness of their needs. Our staff prioritize building rapport and understanding each patient’s context. This is crucial for effective care to provide accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment that results in fewer unintended negative effects.

In addition, we strongly believe that building trust and relationships is key to providing safe and patient-centered care. This in return promotes adherence to medication as patients understand and participate in their treatment plans.

As patients and beneficiaries remain the key stakeholders of the services we provide, stakeholder engagement is one of the crucial roles played by PIH. We strive to have them well informed so they participate in shaping the care they receive for the various conditions.

PIH conducts patient and guardian exit interviews and completes patient satisfaction surveys. We also support community involvement through empowerment and engagement of the Health Center Management Committees (HCMCs) and Hospital Management Committees (HMCs), community health committees, and other community structures. 

PIH Malawi provides support at different levels:

1. Home: Home-based support, longitudinal follow-up, and linkage to care through community health workers.
2. Community: Community education and dialogue, and integrated screening for common conditions through community mobilization and outreach programs.
3. Primary level: Empower and support the first level of care for integrated patient-centered and high-quality care. Overall, the primary health care (PHC) program system strengthens the PHC system, improves health outcomes, and ensures universal health coverage for all individuals in Neno district. It includes Integrated Chronic Care Clinics (IC3) program, where patients with different chronic diseases are seen in the same queue, at the same time, and by the same multidisciplinary team of health workers. Leveraging HIV resources, integrated chronic care clinics manage a broad range of common and rare less complex non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

4. Secondary level: PIH works through accompaniment with the Ministry of Health to support Neno district in the implementation planning aligning to national and local health system initiatives to improve access and quality of health care. PIH focuses on hospital inpatient care, specialized services like nursery care, and complex chronic conditions through Advanced NCD Clinics and the Pediatric Development Clinic (PDC). 

   PEN-Plus or Advanced NCD clinics offer hospital-level care for complex chronic illnesses. The program has led to improved accessibility and comprehensive care for clients with chronic NCDs in Neno district and beyond. By addressing a wide range of conditions and providing ongoing support, PEN-Plus clinics are making a positive impact on the lives of individuals living with chronic NCDs. 

   PDC is another innovation that aims to ensure that high-risk babies have every opportunity to thrive through improvement in health outcomes such as developmental delays and death.

5. Tertiary: This also focuses on hospital inpatient care, specialized care services, and complex chronic conditions managed within the district and referred out to tertiary hospitals. PIH also supports patients to access specialized services outside Malawi like cardiac surgeries, cancer care, et cetera. 

Our organization strongly believes that access to quality healthcare is a fundamental human right. We are committed to building healthcare systems that are efficient, effective, and resilient while prioritizing patient needs and striving for universal coverage but also equitable access. 

To achieve this goal, we recognize that healthcare systems must be designed to provide integrated care at all levels, from individual homes to the highest level possible. Our focus is on ensuring that beneficiaries are protected from financial hardship while receiving the highest quality services with respect and dignity.

For this to be successful, PIH makes deliberate efforts to invest in the relevant inputs through the 5 Ss building blocks.

1. Staff: PIH prioritizes the availability of well-trained and qualified staff in adequate numbers at all levels of the care continuum to respond to the needs in Neno and beyond. We accompany the government in recruitment, development, retention, and performance management. 
2. Stuff: We ensure the tools and resources needed for care delivery and administration are available. We support with a vast range of medicines, medical supplies and equipment through our supply chain system.
3. Space: in order to treat patients, we need to invest in safe, appropriate spaces equipped with electricity and clean water. PIH in collaboration with our partners, creates, expands, and equips spaces so that they meet clinicians’ needs and provide a healing environment for patients.
4. Systems: As an organization, we strongly believe that investing in leadership and governance structures is key for solid decision-making, financial and accounting systems, supply chain management to ensure well-stocked health facilities, medical informatics expertise for nimble record-keeping, and more. 
5. Social support: To ensure effective care, PIH provides necessities and resources including food, housing, transportation, and financial support for patients and their families. PIH’s social support programming focuses on treating the whole patient, not just their conditions. Social support is an essential part of patient care and makes the difference between a patient’s ability to recover from sickness and maintain good health over the long term.