Health Promotion Officer

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION
Purpose:
The purpose of this qualification is to prepare a learner to:
• Carry out basic assessments of communities, households groups and individuals.
• Provide basic health education and referrals for a wide range of services.
• Support and assist in navigating the health and social services system.
Rationale:
The National Health Council has mandated an improvement in the health outcomes and for this to
occur significant steps need to be taken in the restructuring of the health system. This is one of the
10 points in the five year Health Sector 10 Point Plan, noted as ‘overhauling the healthcare system’.
It is also the fourth pillar of the Negotiated Service Delivery Agreement as ‘strengthening the
effectiveness of the health system’. This qualification will form an integral part of this strategy. It will
form the basis for the appointment requirements of the Community Health Workers that will be
employed by the various government departments (currently an estimated number of approximately
70 000 people).
The caveat for the South African model should be built on the ward system that has been
implemented in KwaZulu-Natal. Each ward should have one or more Primary Health Care (PHC)
outreach teams. These teams are composed of a professional nurse, environmental health and
health promotion practitioners as well as 4-5 community health workers who are expected to serve a
population of approximately 7 660 people.
The model contains three streams:
• Award based PHC outreach team for each electoral ward.
• Strengthening school health services.
• District based clinical specialist teams with an initial focus on improving maternal and child
health.
Evidence from many countries suggests that provision of home and community based health
services and their links with the fixed PHC facilities in particular are critical to achieve good health
outcomes, especially child health outcomes (Sepulveda et al, 2006). The role of community health
workers in many countries has contributed to better health outcomes (WHO 2007).
The roles of Community Health Workers (CHW) (as part of the PHC outreach teams) will include:
• Conducting community, household and individual health assessments and identifying health needs
and risks (actual and potential) and facilitating the family or an individual to seek the appropriate
health service.
• Promoting the health of the households and the individuals within these households.
• Referring persons for further assessment and testing after performing simple basic screening.
• Providing limited, simple health interventions in a household (e.g. basic first aid, oral rehydration
and any other basic intervention that she or he is trained to provide).
• Providing psychosocial support and managing interventions such as treatment defaulter tracing
and adherence support.
Given the key role that CHWs will play, they should, over time be directly managed by the
Department of Health.
Ideally each ward within the district should be covered with a PHC outreach team. There are 4,277
electoral wards in South Africa. The population sizes of wards are variable so to the geography and
density of each ward. Urban wards are highly populated with high density whilst rural wards are
sparsely populated and often with poor infrastructure. This means that ward populations may range
from less than 1000 in some wards to more than 20 000 in others.
This qualification will capacitate the Community Health Workers to fulfil their role in this revised
structure.
LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL):
RPL for access to the integrated assessment: Accredited providers and approved workplaces must
apply the internal assessment criteria specified in the related curriculum document to establish and
confirm prior learning. Prior learning must be acknowledged by a statement of results.
RPL for entry requirements to access the qualification: Accredited providers and approved
workplaces may recognise prior learning against the relevant access requirements.
Entry Requirements:
NQF Level 1 or equivalent competences in Mathematical Literacy and Communications.
RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?
Y
QUALIFICATION RULES
This qualification is made up of the following compulsory Knowledge and Practical Skill Modules:
Knowledge Subjects:
• Public and Community health support, NQF Level 3, 22 Credits.
• Family and Community Services, NQF Level 3, 10 Credits.
• Basics of Community Health, NQF Level 3, 8 Credits.
Total Credits for Knowledge Subjects: 40.
Practical Skills Modules:
• Mobilise community to address community health issues, NQF Level 3, 4 Credits.
• Identify the service needs and ease of access to health and social services, NQF Level 3, 4
Credits.
• Promote healthy life styles and mental wellbeing, NQF Level 3, 6 Credits.
• Promote HIV prevention including HIV testing, condom use, partner reduction, circumcision, STI
treatment, NQF Level 3, 4 Credits.
• Provide information on prevention of accidents and incidents in homes, NQF Level 2, 4 Credits.
• Record and report on information provided to individuals, households and communities, NQF Level
3, 4 Credits.
• Promote and provide support for maternal and women’s health, NQF Level 2, 14 Credits.
• Promote child health, NQF Level 4, 4 Credits.
• Support community members with psychosocial problems, NQF Level 4, 3 Credits.
• Provide an integrated approach to support treatment adherence, NQF Level 3, 4 Credits.
• Identify and treat a select number of minor ailments, NQF Level 2, 8 Credits.
• Provide basic support to people who are unable to care for themselves, NQF Level 2, 4 Credits.
Total Credits for Practical Skills Modules: 63.
Work Experience Modules:
• Operation and dynamics of communities, NQF Level 4, 6 Credits.
• Household registration and assessment processes, NQF Level 3, 14 Credits.
• Health promotion processes, NQF Level 3, 6 Credits.
• Formal health provision processes, NQF Level 2, 12 Credits.
• Emotional and social wellness support processes, NQF Level 3, 6 Credits.
• Household treatment processes of minor ailments, NQF Level 3, 16 Credits.
Total Credits for Work Experience Modules: 60.