HCWC-Current Projects

Where research based actions help change health seeking
behaviours, creating healthier citizenry and wealthier
communities…

Need for Low Cost Health Clinics in Low Income
Neighbourhoods of Mumbai & Long Term Health Impact
Assessment of Clinics

Operated by Swasth Foundation

October 2016-Septemeber 2018
Partners: Tata Trust, USAID, Swasth Foundation

This project aimed at evaluating the health care needs of citizens of informal settlements and existing provisions for it in their area. It located residents of informal settlements suffering from Diabetes and High Blood Pressure by conducting surveys in 2000 households and then assessed the health care expenditures, the medicinal expenditure, the progression of their disease and the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction that the residents had from their current service providers, whether private, public or charitable trusts.

Sabira, PUKAR’s Sehat Sevak conducting a survey.

Need for Low Cost Health Clinics in Low Income
Neighbourhoods of Mumbai & Long Term Health Impact
Assessment of Clinics

Operated by Swasth Foundation

October 2016-Septemeber 2018
Partners: Tata Trust, USAID, Swasth Foundation

This project aimed at evaluating the health care needs of citizens of informal settlements and existing provisions for it in their area. It located residents of informal settlements suffering from Diabetes and High Blood Pressure by conducting surveys in 2000 households and then assessed the health care expenditures, the medicinal expenditure, the progression of their disease and the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction that the residents had from their current service providers, whether private, public or charitable trusts.

PUKAR’s Team of Sehat Sevaks at Lallu Bhai Compound

This aim was achieved through various activities. First the core team of HCWC conducted a census of Mandala and Lallubhai Compound in order to do random sampling of all households. Second the director of the program and the Core team created a team of local youth, Sehat Sevaks, who were recruited and then trained in the research including research ethics, surveys techniques, interview techniques, documentation and data collection.

Tejal, Director of Healthy Cities program conducting a workshop at the field office

After the training the Sehat Sevaks conducted a baseline needs assessment survey in these communities in 2000 household surveyed at the beginning of the project (Baseline survey) .
Realizing the high percentage of Diabetes and Hypertension within the surveyed communities,
60 patients suffering from these two disease conditions and their families were taken for long term case studies with longitudinal case studies, spanning over two years to judge the changes in health seeking behaviours in the community and the causalities for the changes that might have occurred in them. These people have been visited by the trained Barefoot Researchers who interview them every two months and documents the progress or worsening of their disease condition their doctor’s visits, hospital admissions, and medicinal expenditures. These findings are being compiled.

Nizam, PUKAR’s Sehat Sevak ( Right) interviewing a patient.

Another midline survey was conducted in the same 2000 households a year later, documenting carefully the changes in their disease process, the benchmarks of their health parameters. The baseline study and the mid-line survey analysis revealed some interesting findings related to the health seeking behaviours of the patients. The final results would be projected on the website of both PUKAR and SWASTH and will be presented in an annotated volume.

The low coast Swasth clinic was opened in 2017 in Mandala and some of the patients from the survey have been attending that clinic and are satisfied with that service while others find it too expensive.

PUKAR’s Sehat Sevak, Meenaz, conducting a survey at Lallubhai Compound

Journey Towards Dignity
2015- On going

Partners: Westwind Nursery/ Stree Bal Shakti
WHEELS Global Foundation
American Jewish Women’s Service
Stitching DIDA

Sheeba, JTD facilitator talking to girls about menstrual cycle.

Journey Towards Dignity
2015- On going

When it comes to women and their health, especially their sexual and reproductive health, myths and misconceptions have been reinforced through generations, and we are now conditioned to
believe them. To break these myths and to created knowledge based, informed choices, PUKAR decided to start educating adolescent girls from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) that draw the poorest and the poor students from some of the most marginalized communities around the suburban Mumbai. This project aims to

empower adolescent girl students enrolled in class 7-8 with knowledge related to their coming of age, including physical and emotional changes, the onset of menstrual cycle, importance of menstrual hygiene, sex and gender, identity issues related to each and its impact on their future health, gendered identity, sexuality and gender-based violence.

Community girls working on body mapping exercise.

They need to decide the course they want to take, to know their options, and to understand the distinctions between the factors that promote their sense of self-worth, emotional and physical well-being, and those that are detrimental to them. Although the work has so far focused on adolescent girls and some college-going male youth, PUKAR envisions a program that reaches out to an equal number of boys. Not only will this help in creating a receptive ecosystem, but it will also enable the project to have a more sustainable impact.

BMC school girls sharing what they learnt about menstruation.

In order to achieve this impact, PUKAR has assembled a Team of facilitators who have been trained by resource people with the domain expertise. They get refreshers training every year. They first have to obtain permissions from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai(MCGM) educational department to conduct this training that is done outside of the classroom times and curricular mandates.

Girls learning to draw body organs and learning their respective functions.

The facilitators first conduct parents’ meetings and obtain their consents for this course. Then the facilitators conduct 22 activity-based workshops designed by them specifically to incorporate all the subjects from self-identity, body literacy, and menstrual cycle to relationships and gender violence. Workshops are conducted every Saturday at the school premises for 2 hours followed by a dialogue and included many creative instruments like theatre and poster making to make it easy on the girls to talk about these difficult and taboo subjects.  Each workshop consists of a pre- and post- evaluation of the contents of the workshop and students’ knowledge gained. Parental meetings also form a part of this empowerment strategy. Similar activities are conducted in various communities where needs are expressed and parental cooperation is obtained.

For the year 2018-19 the JTD Team will be working with more than 500 + girls in 13 government schools. Many of them being 7th grade students, still cannot read and write to their grade level and besides their school and their communities, they have never stepped out to see the outside world. We hope to bring some positive changes to their lives through knowledge and play.