Our NewStart VCT service focuses on:
- providing a comprehensive, secure, client-friendly, mobile health-care guidance service to identified impoverished communities in KwaZulu that offers high quality VCT, TB diagnosis, health-care information and related treatment support (primarily for HIV and TB).
- specific community identification to find communities that have:limited or no access to health-care services, high levels of poverty, and are untargeted by other NGOs or CBOs. TAI has identified Matimatolo, Hopewell, Trustfeed and Willowfontein.
- holistic health-care guidance and not just focusing on HIV testing. This would be through networking with local health care providers. Our vision for the VCT service would be broader and more integrated than just providing VCT because this is the service that our communities require.
- follow-up and support by engaging with community structures (both formal and informal) to come up with innovative solutions. Considerable thought needs to be given to this as we cannot, in good conscience, test community members without being able to offer them opportunities for a positive future as well.
- strength through partnership: TAI understands that it cannot be everything to everyone – we can only offer the services that fall within our core function, and the core function of the New Start franchise. What we can do, though, is identify potential partners and stakeholders that can further strengthen and augment the VCT service. These stakeholders include: Regional / District Department of Health offices especially with regard to TB testing, health promoting materials and pamphlets, access to treatment, patient transport; NGO / CBO partners from the local / nearby communities to participate in the community discussions and support; Home and Community Based Carers (HCBCs) and their mentoring NGOs to engage with the community before, during and after mobile VCT service visits. TAI is a mentoring NGO for the HCBCs in 3 Umgungundlovu municipalities and is linked to the HCBCs throughout KwaZulu Natal through the KZNPPHC. The potential exists for fantastic collaboration in providing an integrated health service.
Focal areas: skills relating to the promotion and management of community health, co-ordination and communication, identifying health resources and threats, community mobilization, mentoring, monitoring & evaluation, voluntary HIV counseling and testing, effective referral and follow-up
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES: men, women and couples how utilize these services
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES: identified communities, families of people who have tested
new start mission
Our mission is to improve the health of our clients by providing the highest quality HIV counseling, testing and referral services.new start core values
- Client-focus: The needs of our clients come first and should be paramount in every decision we make.
- Respect: All clients should be treated non-judgmentally and with respect.
- Confidentiality: We will never compromise our clients' confidentiality.
- Efficiency: We will seek to reach the maximum number of clients without compromising the quality of the service we provide.
- Professionalism: All New Start staff are essential elements of the service we provide and should conduct themselves in a professional manner.
- Teamwork: Although each of us has a specific job description, we must work together, above and beyond our job descriptions, to assist each other to achieve our common goals.
