American International Health Alliance

SakhalinHouston

Sakhalin, Russia / Houston, Texas

2000-2005

Focus: Nursing, Emergency and Disaster Medicine, HIV/AIDS, Asthma, Cancer, Community Health, Health Management, Infection Control, Diabetes, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Reproductive Health

The Partners

Partnership Objectives

Key Events and Achievements
Participating Institutions

The Partners

US Partners: Baylor College of Medicine is a not-for-profit medical school located within the Texas Medical Center. The Center is composed of 42 institutions, including two medical schools, three schools of nursing, a school of public health, 13 hospitals, the regional library of the National Library of Medicine, and other ancillary institutions.

Russian Partners: Sakhalin Oblast Health Administration was the lead Russian institution for the partnership. Several municipalities, including the cities of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Korsakov, Kholmsk, and Okha also collaborated.

Partnership Objectives

The overall objective of this partnership was to establish high quality, patient-centered primary healthcare services that could serve as replicable models of care throughout Sakhalin Island.

To this end, partners:

Increased the role of preventive healthcare services in Korsakov Rayon by developing a wide range of disease management and prevention programs and activities based on evidence-based clinical practice;

Developed and supported nursing leadership and management training by establishing a nursing continuing education program and curricula for training new nurses and re-training practicing professionals;

Provided training in reproductive health for primary healthcare personnel and developed and implemented an educational program on prenatal care, Lamaze, birthing techniques, and breastfeeding;

Improved standards of infection control and prevention; and

Provided training in healthcare management and established a Mayor’s Health Council that enhanced sustainability of partnership activities beyond the funding period.

Key Events and Achievements

Primary Healthcare Nursing

Nurse leadership, more effective utilization of nurses, and expanding and improving the care they provide was a priority focus for the partners. To that end, a number of Korsakov nurses received training in Houston on nursing management and continuing education.

Partners jointly developed nurse continuing education curricula that is now the standard for nurse education in the region and is used regularly to conduct training.

Women's Health

Partners designated December as "Women's Health Month" in Korsakov, and medical professionals conducted lectures on women's health topics in schools and at local businesses. They also focused on increasing the number of women receiving clinical exams and reached 170 women during the initial campaign.

Partners still routinely conduct classes on Lamaze, postpartum contraception, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and general healthy lifestyle topics for women.

Health Education and Promotion

The Korsakov partners developed three patient education brochures on AIDS, family planning, and the dangers of smoking and distributed 400 copies to the community. They also published a monthly Medical Bulletin to expand their health education and outreach efforts.

Between October and December 2003, partners carried out 231 health promotion activities on topics such as alcohol and drug abuse prevention, breast health, STI prevention, and contraception, which were attended by more than 3,300 people.

Partners routinely hold health fairs and special health days. A "Day of Health" was conducted in February 2004 at local secondary schools and roundtables designed to help people take charge of their own well-being were conducted for some 164 people.

Infection Control

Two Russian partners were training in Houston on epidemiological disease surveillance, hepatitis B and C vaccinations, prevention and monitoring of STIs, communicable diseases, and prison health issues.
Partners conducted a hepatitis B and C screening for 480 hospital employees in Korsakov.

Partners reorganized Korsakov Hospital's infection control department and initiated a new position of epidemiologist assistant to improve monitoring of nosocomial infections. They also conducted four training sessions on nosocomial infections for 85 feldshers from Korsakov Rayon.

Healthcare Organization and Management

Beginning July 2002, all employees at Korsakov Rayon Hospital received a quarterly performance evaluation as a result of training and policies the Russian partners adapted from their experiences in Houston.

Korsakov staff conduct clinical practice reviews on a quarterly basis. Past topics have included the use of new fluoroquinoles in out-patient treatment of pneumonia; the effectiveness of using Ruzam in treating latex allergy in medical personnel; and the effectiveness of acetyl cysteine acid in treating patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

Korsakov Hospital’s chief physician was provided advanced training in hospital management, waste management, and quality management, which led to the implementation of a new process for registering medical waste and other procedural changes.

Emergency Medical Services

Partners conducted training seminars on emergency medicine and first aid for medical personnel in Korsakov. First aid and medical emergency seminars were also conducted for employees of the police
department, students and teachers at the Navy Lyceum, and food industry personnel.

Partners implemented a training series for local firefighters, titled “First Aid and Medical Emergency,” that consists of 10 seminars. A total of 14 firefighters completed the seminar in September 2002 and the course was again offered in 2003 and 2004.

Sustainability Activities

In November 2003, the Sakhalin partners were awarded a sustainability grant to disseminate their successful models of adolescent health education and breastfeeding education.

In January 2004, they held a health fair for some 400 children in the pediatric polyclinic and, in April, they conducted a best practices
conference that was attended by Russian partners from Samara, Sarov, and Tomsk.

In July 2004, USAID provided additional funding earmarked for the development of model HIV/AIDS and STI prevention programs targeting adolescents in four cities in the region. Through this earmark, partners established five LRCs, administered a Youth Risk Behavior Survey to high school students in the pilot cities, and initiated a number of school- and community-based programs, including a “Healthy Inoculation” training of trainers workshop designed to decrease use of drugs – particularly injecting drugs – and increase safe sexual practices.

Partners from the Korsakov Central Rayon Hospital received a grant from the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation to develop and implement a breast cancer education and early detection program with affiliated programs in the cities of Korsakov, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Dolinsk during 2004-2005.

Participating Institutions

Sakhalin Oblast Health Department
Municipalities in the cities of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Korsakov, Kholmsk, and Okha
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston