St. Pierre parish,
Baradères, Haiti
Sister parish of St. John the Baptist, Silver
Spring, Md.
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Parts of Haiti and other developing countries have "accompaniment" programs that employ neighborhood volunteers to improve adherence with treatment for tuberculosis or HIV. They are tasked with overcoming the social, geographic, and physical obstacles. Could we identify similar people in each village and train them to accompany patients with chronic diseases to follow-up appointments at the nuns' clinic? Perhaps we could start with some of the Community Health Workers at our high school that we trained to interact with patients and perform basic tasks like measuring blood pressure. Accompaniment might resonate with a few of them, leading to a health profession. Accompaniment clearly would help patients with arthritis, depression, diabetes, and especially hypertension. Managing chronic disease, which is never easy, will be a major challenge in Baradères and its outlying villages. But with a vision, a plan, and our sister parish, we can reduce morbidity and mortality in Baradères. Yes we can [Next: a reflection by Tony Maurelli.]
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