San José De Gracía*

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

San José De Gracía is located in the southern pacific region of Nicaragua in the department of Carazo. A typical house is made of cement blocks. The community has access to a local health centre within the community as well as both a primary and secondary school. 79 students attend the primary school with seven teachers and five classrooms. The primary school goes up to grade six. Following primary school, students have the option of attending secondary school up to grade twelve. Currently, 83 students attend secondary school with five teachers and five classrooms. Most people in the community work as agricultural labourers.

Global Brigades is currently working with the Medical Program in San José De Gracía and has been since the first Medical Brigade in March 2018. In their communication with Global Brigades, the top three needs expressed were improvements needed to the water system, road repairs, and improvements needed to electrical system. San José De Gracía is on the waitlist for continuing Holistic Model implementation as part of Global Brigades’ strategic plan in Nicaragua.

Municipality: La Conquista
Department: Carazo

*Brigades to this community are temporarily suspended at this time

Homes : 165
Population : 655
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : No
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : Yes
Community Health Workers : Yes
% of Homes with Latrines : 80%
Education : Up to 12th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 14 km

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

Healthcare access in Nicaragua is structured by the Ministry of Health, based in the capital, Managua. From there, each of the fifteen departments has its own department hospital, which is overseen by the SILAIS administrations (Sistema Local de Atención Integral en Salud). At a municipality level, there is a health centre (Centro de Salud) for every municipality within the department. While they are not hospitals, health centres in the municipality are typically staffed with one doctor, and two nurses, that can attend to patients with chronic, communicable, or noncommunicable diseases, as well as pregnancies. They, however, do not have the ability to perform surgeries.

Lastly, most but not all communities have a Puesto de Salud, a smaller health centre. These health centres are usually staffed with only one nurse and a rotating physician. Physicians are staffed in these health centres by Nicaragua’s Social Service. This is an initiative that requires Nicaraguan medical students to do two years of service in rural communities prior to graduating. The physician density in Nicaragua is approximately 1,099 people for every doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

This density is significantly lower for the 40.6% of the population that lives in rural areas. It is for this reason that Nicaragua’s Social Service initiative brings medical students to these communities. However, access remains limited since these training physicians may be assigned to up to fifteen communities at a time.  

San José De Gracía has access to a health centre within their community. Even with this access, it is important to note that medications, supplies, and materials are often not available in these health centres and are dependent on government funding. There is no access to private pharmacies. Additionally, as noted above, access to trained medical professionals is limited.

During their initial communications with Global Brigades, the top three illnesses in children that San José De Gracía expressed were diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, and parasitic infections. For adults, common illnesses are chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as respiratory infections and diarrhoea. Without access to trained healthcare professionals and medications, chronic diseases can go unmanaged, leading to further health problems. Acute illnesses can also be severe and affect the quality of life.

41

Volunteers

494

Patient Consultations

N/A

Vision Screenings Provided

5

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS

San José De Gracía has one Community Health worker that is trained by the Ministry of Health. Community Health Workers, or Brigadistas de Salud, work on a volunteer basis as advocates for healthcare within their communities. They are tasked with treating and preventing common illnesses, and some of their responsibilities include first aid, supporting and caring for pregnancies and newborns, and responding to emergency situations. They are also responsible for following up with chronic patients to ensure proper administration of medications and treatments to avoid further complications.

Global Brigades is planning to establish a partnership with San José De Gracía Community Health Workers and the Ministry of Health and is looking forward to providing these Community Health Workers with blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, glucometers, and first aid kits, to facilitate more impactful work. The presence of these volunteers and their advocacy for health within their community contributes to the sustainability of healthcare supported by Global Brigades’ Medical Program and is one of the most impactful disease prevention strategies in rural communities.

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BRIGADE INFORMATION

Community members from San José De Gracía attend Medical Brigades in the health center of San José De Gracía. This location has rooms for triage, consultation, dentistry and pharmacy stations.

San José De Gracía offers strong support on Medical Brigades from the community volunteers. One way the 8-15 community volunteers assist is by running intake. Intake is the very first station of the clinic and is where the community volunteers write down the patient’s name, date of birth, community, and identification number. Additionally, community volunteers manage clinic organization. They set up tables and chairs in the clinic prior to the brigade’s arrival as well as direct patients to the next medical station, once the clinic has opened for the day. Lastly, community volunteers lead adult health education sessions on sanitation and hygiene, chronic diseases, contraception, Women’s health, and water purification. San José De Gracía’s community volunteers are essential the efficiency and effectiveness of Medical Brigades.

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED PER DAY: 535
NEARBY COMMUNITIES: SANTA CRUZ, EL CONGO, LOS CASTILLOS, LAS TABLAS, EL 54, LA MANZANA, BARRIO NUEVO

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN SAN JOSE DE GRACIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Athletico Professional Brigade Medical Brigade & City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College Medical Brigade March 2018 41

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS

While medical access is low, dental access is even more sparing. Dental services are not available within the community health centres, or even the municipality health centres. Instead, if a patient was needing dental care, they would be required to travel to one of the country’s fifteen department hospitals. This could be up to a 2-3 hour bus ride, with many needing to first walk or horseback ride to the bus stop.

68

Patient Consultations

35

Number of Extractions

63

Fillings Performed

4

Dental Education Workshops

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BRIGADE INFORMATION

Community members from San José De Gracía attend Medical Brigades in the health center of San José De Gracía. This location has rooms for triage, consultation, dentistry and pharmacy stations.

San José De Gracía offers strong support for Medical Brigades from the community volunteers. One way the 8-15 community volunteers assist is by running intake. Intake is the very first station of the clinic and is where the community volunteers write down the patient’s name, date of birth, community, and identification number. Additionally, community volunteers manage clinic organization. They set up tables and chairs in the clinic prior to the brigade’s arrival as well as direct patients to the next medical station, once the clinic has opened for the day. Lastly, community volunteers lead adult health education sessions on sanitation and hygiene, chronic diseases, contraception, Women’s health, and water purification. San José De Gracía’s community volunteers are essential the efficiency and effectiveness of Medical Brigades.

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED PER DAY: 535
NEARBY COMMUNITIES: SANTA CRUZ, EL CONGO, LOS CASTILLOS, LAS TABLAS, EL 54, LA MANZANA, BARRIO NUEVO

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN SAN JOSE DE GRACIA

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Athletico Professional Brigade Medical Brigade & City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College Medical Brigade March 2018 41

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Currently, San José De Gracía utilizes a mixed system that both functions by gravity and an electric pump. The system was constructed in the 1980s and has in-home connections to 100% of households. While this system has certainly increased water accessibility for the community, there are major needs for improvement.

During the summer water is only available every two weeks. When there are water shortages, families buy barrels of water for approximately $5 USD a barrel and carry them by oxen in a cart. While many are able to use this solution, there is a more rural sector of the community consisting of 26 homes, that is too remote to receive barrels. They instead use water from the nearest river, which is not potable. Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in San José De Gracía but has not yet begun with the Water Program. Now in the planning phase, the financing, delivery, and installation of a water system infrastructure, or repairs to existing infrastructure will start as soon as feasible.

Water System : Yes
Type of Water System : Mixted
% of Homes with Access to Water : 100%
Water Council : No

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in San José De Gracía but has not yet begun with the Business Program. In the planning phase, local staff is working with community members to assess the economic needs of the community, establish a community bank, and identify micro-enterprises that can benefit from on-brigade consultations. 

Community Bank : No
Community Bank Members : None
Economic Activities : Agricultural labor
Existing Microenterprises : N/A

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in San José De Gracía but has not yet begun with the Public Health Program. Now in the planning phase, the financing, delivery, and installation of household health infrastructure products will start as soon as feasible.

% of Homes with Latrines : 80%
% of Homes with Showers : 25%
% of Homes with Washing Station : 90%
Common House Materials : Cement block

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

  • Feature