Consultancy work (advanced counselling on diet and physical activity) (WHO)

Call for Expressions of Interest and Proposal

VN016: To support the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh city initiate advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertensive patients at District Health Centres (DHC) and Commune Health Stations (CHS).

1. Background

Ho Chi Minh city (HCMC) is the biggest city in Viet Nam with more than 10 million people. The city is not yet met the need for NCD management of people although it has a lot of hospitals and clinics. These health facilities are usually overwhelmed with patients. However, few patients visit Commune Health Stations (CHSs). To solve the overload of hospitals and clinics as well as reduce NCD treatment gap, probably more than 50%, the city needs to strengthen CHSs. This is a challenging task because currently people don’t trust the CHSs and the capacity of these health facilities in term of human resource and equipment is limited.

The Department of Health (DOH) of HCMC requested support from the WHO for strengthening Primary Care focusing on NCD management. The Organization had two missions to HCMC including the one led by the acting WR in late 2022. WHO team provided recommendations on public health approach for NCD, approaches for strengthening PHC and policy interventions on human/financial resources and multi-sectoral collaboration which are aligned with the regional action framework for NDC in WPRO region. Furthermore, the WHO committed to support HCMC to strengthen Primary Care starting with NCD management at DHCs and CHSs. For this task, the WHO supported the DOH with a planning meeting and some basic training courses for Health Care Workers (HCWs) on management of hypertension and diabetes- the most common NCDs.

As results of the planning meeting, service of advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertensive patients should be emphasized and made available at DHCs and CHSs. To make this happen, the WHO needs to recruit a consultant.

2. Planned timelines (subject to confirmation)

Start date: 15 Apr 2023
End date: 30 Aug 2023

3. Work to be performed

Method(s) to carry out the activity

This consultancy will support the DOH of HCMC for building capacity of advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertensive patients for HCWs of DHCs and CHSs of HCMC. The consultancy will conduct the following tasks under the technical guidance from WHO and the DOH of HCMC.

1) To develop guideline and related documents (process/SOP…) on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients at DHCs and CHSs.
2) To develop training package, training program and tools for capacity building of HCWs at DHCs and CHSs in one month on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients. The training program should include theory in nutrition (online and onsite), practice in laboratory and health facilities.
3) To provide training for about 50 HCWs from DHCs and CHSs of HCMC on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients using the abovementioned package and program.
4) To give advice on necessary equipment for counselling on diet and physical activity and the way to promote this service at district health centers and commune health stations.

Deliverable 1: The guideline on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients at DHCs and CHSs in both English and Vietnamese.

The guideline should be divided into visit/day basic, the time of counselling for each visit from 20-60 minutes.
The tools for counselling and tools for assessment of progress of patients should be included.
Both counselling for individuals and group are included.
The DOH of HCMC will provide inputs for finalizing the guidelines and tools but no extra cost is needed for this task.
The draft of outline of the guideline should be submitted along with the application

Deliverable 2: The training package, training program and tools for capacity building of HCWs at DHCs and CHSs on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients. - The training package includes text and ppt versions. - Capacity building program include the sessions for theory at a training room, practice at health facilities with real patients and “on- the job’ training at DHCs and CHSs. The draft of outline of the training package and training program should be submitted along with the application Deliverable 3: - Reports on training and guiding on practice for about 30-40 participants and “on-the job” training for HCWs of about 10 DHCs and 10 CHSs on advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertension patients. - Advice on necessary equipment for counselling on diet and physical activity and the way to promote this service at district health centers and commune health stations. - The DOH of HCMC will provide inputs for finalizing the guidelines and tools but no extra cost is needed for this task. 4. Monitoring and evaluation. - Pre and post-test will be applied to assess the change in capacity of participants. - Standardized form will be used for supervisors to assess performance of participants during supportive supervision trips. - The Electronic NCD Reporting System will be used to monitor number of patients managed at CHSs and quality of the management including changes in healthy diet and physical activity. 5. Specific requirements: The selected service provider/chief of service providers must have: - Medical Degree. - Mater of Public Health degree or related advanced university degree or higher

Experience - At least 15 years working experience in nutrition area including providing counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertensive patients. - Rich experience in developing guideline for HCWs and patients on nutrition for health. - Approved capacity on developing training package and deliver training courses on diet and physical activity for NCD patients. - Experience working with WHO is preferable. 6. Place of assignment: - In Hochiminh city. 7. Travel - The service provider will work in Ho Chi Minh with possible travel to Ha Noi for short time. 8. Budget - The submitted proposal with detailed budget breakdown will be reviewed and decided based on the technical requirements, timeliness, and value for money. The budget should include the possible travel cost to the provinces identified by the APW holder. The firms/institutions that are interested can submit your proposals indicating vacancy notice number and job title by 31 March 2023 and should be addressed to:

World Health Organization wpvnmhe@who.int

Subject: VN016: To support the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh city initiate advanced counselling on diet and physical activity for diabetic and hypertensive patients at District Health Centres (DHC) and Commune Health Stations (CHS).

Tags: WHO