In January, three mobile medical teams began traveling to remote settlements in the north of the Zhytomyr region. These include villages in the Olevsk, Narodychi, and Slovechansk communities. Over nine visits, they provided medical and psychosocial services to 225 local residents. People require not only medical services but also psychological support.
Project Overview
As part of the project “Restoring Access to Medical Services in the Communities of Zhytomyr Region,” three mobile medical teams (MMT) were created, consisting of a doctor, nurse, psychologist, and social worker. From January to September of this year, the MMTs will travel to the settlements of three communities in the region to provide primary medical care, psychological assistance, support, and social services.
Services Provided
This initiative allows people to receive consultations from a family doctor and psychologist in their local areas. Specialists will also be involved whenever possible. The MMTs conduct examinations for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hearing loss, gender-based violence (GBV), and depression. All MMT services are free of charge.
January Activities
The MMTs started their operations in January. The first visits were to the Slovechansk and Olevsk communities. Over nine visits this month, services were provided to 225 residents of the following villages:
- Kalynivka, Maydan, Zolnya in the Olevsk community;
- Prybytky, Syrnytsia, Cherevky, Selezyvka in the Slovechansk community;
- Radcha, Grezlya, and Davydky in the Narodychi community.
On average, the MMTs consult 25 people per visit. The highest number of clients during these visits was in the village of Maydan in the Olevsk community on January 18, where 36 people received MMT services. Most of those seeking help are elderly, but there were also children aged 5-8 years.
Challenges and Conclusions
“During the visits, we expected people to need medical assistance. However, we did not anticipate such a high number of people wanting to see a doctor. Residents of remote villages are interested in psychological services. The biggest challenge for the teams was the lack of internet and communication in some locations. Our specialists also faced situations where, at the request of relatives, they had to visit people who could not get to the mobile medical teams due to chronic non-infectious diseases. This only shows how necessary and important these services are,” said MMT coordinator Anastasia Batyrieva.
Reasons for Community Residents to Seek MMT Services
Most people contact the MMTs due to poor health caused by high blood pressure, heart pain, and headaches. Screenings for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are highly relevant. In the Narodychi community, there is a need for hearing loss examinations. According to family doctor Olena Mysyuk, who travels with the MMT to local residents of this community, people have hearing impairments due to bombings.
“Our village is far from the district, from our community, and our people in the village need this help since most residents are pensioners. And we have no way to reach the doctors,” said Mrs. Lidiya, a resident of Prybytky village in the Slovechansk community.
According to her, such support is very important for local residents. The village is remote, and there are not many opportunities to reach doctors, especially for elderly people.
Project Support
The project “Restoring Access to Medical Services in the Communities of Zhytomyr Region,” implemented with the support of the USAID project in partnership with PACT’s “Innovations to Overcome the HIV Epidemic,” aims to help community residents receive medical and psychosocial services.
Future Plans
More visits to these communities are planned for February. The MMTs will visit the following settlements: Kopyshche (February 1), Zalissya (February 6), Bilka (February 7), Khochyne (February 8), Motiiky and Khrystynivka, Horodets, Zhurzhevychi, Bazar, Sorokopyn, Perha, Mezhylyska, Kovanka, Zhubrovychi.
