Job Summary

The Research Assistant will conduct data collection during the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study on routinizing catch-up vaccination, involving face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions and several surveys. Visits to health facilities and meeting venues (for group discussions) will be done in person, in a safe manner that is compliant with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and AMREF ESRC guidelines on COVID-19 prevention within Siaya County. This position will be funded for two months.

Roles and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Project Coordinator: Routine Immunization, the Research Assistant will;

• Attend the project study orientation to understand the purpose and intent of the study, as well as the plan for implementation.
• Work in close collaboration with County and Sub County health staffs in the selected facilities to ensure that only eligible clients are interviewed.
• Conduct quantitative surveys, on clients at the selected facilities to gather socio demographic information, immunization status and barriers and challenges in accessing immunization for children below 24 months.
• Conduct data abstraction based on the protocol plan
• In collaboration with the hospital staff, identify suitable sites (preferably quiet places) within the facilities, from where interviews can be conducted.
• Identify, from among clients interviewed for the survey, participants for focused group discussions to elicit more information as per the protocol guidelines.
• Conduct Key informant interviews with pre-selected subject matter experts/trusted sources of information on routine immunization.
• Promptly submit collected data to the electronic databases
• Uphold data quality procedures
• Any other duty that maybe assigned from time to time by the project coordinator.

Experience and academic qualifications

• Relevant experience working in a health institution and or participation in health research (Prior experience in qualitative research or public policy research, familiarity with quantitative methods is a plus).
• Strong qualitative analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy
• Experience in electronic data collection with a bias to ODK will be an added advantage
• Diploma/Degree health related courses or social science discipline

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Willingness and ability to work in Siaya County (proficiency of the local language is a MUST)
• Communication skills both oral and written (proficiency in Swahili, English and Dholuo)
• Networking and collaboration skills
• Team player
• Ability to work under minimum supervision
• Attentive to details (Especially during FGD sessions)
• Training in COVID-19 vaccination will be an added advantage

Job Summary

The overall function of this position is to ensure that pregnant and breasfeeding women and their infants receive sustainable, high quality and client focused health services including Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), HIV exposed infants (HEI) receive recommended follow up and HIV infected children receive pediatric HIV services as per the Kenya national guidelines.

Roles and responsibilities

• Organize and oversee capacity building activities for health providers and case managers working within MNCH clinics through trainings and continuous medical education
• Providing supportive supervision, mentorship and on the job training on PMTCT for all the clinical staff at USAID Stawisha Pwani supported health facilities.
• Work to improve patient management through identifying and improving client flow systems, data capture, clinical management, clinical recording, referral to laboratory and pharmacy and preventing loses to follow for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children
• Oversee eligibility testing amongst pregnant and breastfeeding women in supported health facilities in line with the elimination agenda
• Support facilities to ensure good client monitoring and viral suppression among pregnant and breastfeeding women
• Institutionalize continuous quality improvement systems for continuity of care and patient care improvement
• Develop and strengthen adherence and retention innovations and evidence based interventions through staff mentorship and follow-up and document best practices
• Develop and distribute appropriate job aides, educational material, and reporting tools for PMTCT and HEI to supported health facility staff
• Support collection, collation, and review of critical PMTCT data, indicators and activities on a monthly and quarterly basis detailing proposed objectives and activities for PMTCT/HEI at USAID Stawisha Pwani supported facilities
• To represent the program in technical working groups and stakeholder meetings at sub-county and county levels
• Evaluate outcomes of PMTCT related activities and shares recommendations for program improvement

Required Qualification

• Diploma in Nursing, Clinical Medicine required with significant field experience in nursing and/or community-based care of persons living with HIV/AIDS.
• 5 years’ experience providing and/or overseeing PMTCT services at facility and sub-county/County level
• Training in PMTCT/ART
• ToT on PMTCT/ART and related field is an added advantage
• Program management experience in a supervisory.
• Knowledge and experience with Kenya HIV Quality Improvement Framework.
• Good report writing skills and data use to inform programming.

Job Summary:

S/he will lead the implementation of technical strategy, guide inputs needed to ensure fidelity/quality and effectiveness of program, including, but not limited to development of conceptual framework; leadership, coordination and management of technical assistance approaches and provision; evaluation of project effectiveness and performance and quality improvement processes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensure program fidelity through continuous monitoring of program achievements aligned to program resources outlay and work with program implementation teams to re-allocate program resources as appropriate in collaboration with the relevant technical leads within the CHMT
• Design and lead program initiatives to increase utilization and delivery of high quality, high impact technical strategies aligned and delivered according to the norms and guidelines established
• Provide leadership for continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiatives and technical assistance to increase utilization of and continuity in care and treatment, PMTCT and TB programs, as well as viral load suppression and monitoring
• Support health facilities and other service delivery points to implement effective and efficient HIV case identification strategies, PrEP delivery, scale up and continuation, integrated GBV services and optimal linkage to other prevention services such as DREAMS and OVC ensuring comprehensive HIV prevention services
• Design and lead initiatives to scale up high-impact continuity in treatment and viral load suppression strategies to ensure continuity in treatment rates of over 90% and viral load suppression rate of over 95% alongside identification and treatment of co-morbidities, such as TB
• Develop and/or update care and treatment and TB strategies, in-service training approaches/curricula, standard-operating procedures and job aids as needed
• Oversee and support the training and continuous professional development systems for the technical assistance teams, CHMT and SCHMT and the health care workers within supported healthcare facilities as required
• Supervises Technical Leads and support to coach staff in all aspects related to HIV prevention, care and treatment
• Use data driven approach to problem solve, strategize and focus interventions, and ensure that project performs according to the donor’s agreement.
• Facilitate regular structured technical review meetings at county and sub county level and routinely inform PI, PD MOH and other key stakeholders of program successes, outcomes, lessons learned, and challenges
• Provide technical prioritization to ensure integrity and to achieve project goals, objectives and targets whilst reviewing them for completeness, accuracy,
• Participate in and provide technical assistance within relevant Technical Working Groups (TWG), particularly C&T task teams, workshops, and campaigns
• Support efforts to ensure that state-of-the-art gender and stigma reduction programming are effectively incorporated across interventions and are linked with testing, care, treatment, and support activities
• Coordinate and collaborate with the various HTS, prevention and care and treatment programs and partners to implement and scale-up comprehensive HIV programs. This will involve coordination across clinical and community-based mobilization, service delivery, demand creation, and commodity procurement aspects of implementation

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBChB)
• Master’s degree Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Public Health, Epidemiology or Microbiology or other health-related discipline is an added advantage
• Minimum of 7 years’ experience implementing complex HIV programs, with at least 3 in a senior level position.
• Experience working under PEPFAR funded programs, and USG donor’s regulations.
• Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Demonstrable written and verbal communication skills