Samusocial Perú has two Mobile Aid Teams (“EMA”, in Spanish). The social educator, the nurse and the driver of each Mobile Aid Teams go daily to the remote area of Huaycán, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. to bring health care services closer to the community’s most excluded households, mainly identifying and intervening people under medical-psycho-social risk, providing care and assistance. The intervention is carried out under an inter-sectorial approach thanks to the participation of Peruvian public institutions committed to the fight against social exclusion (MINSA, MIMDES, Urban District of Ate).
The domiciliary visits of Mobile Teams have three core missions:
- Nursing care: The nurse assesses and provides care to people in situation of medical emergency, particularly children, who are the most vulnerable.
Nursing care also permits to create a trustfull relationship with the person (provide care) and boost self confidence (taking care of themselves). Accordingly, each case is followed up. For situations requiring specialized care, the people are referred to health institutions (hospital, health care centers).
- Psycho-social support:
Samusocial Perú professionals follow specialized protocols to address and care for the beneficiaries. Through structured social interviews, the teams assess the cases to find solutions that range from guidance towards the local institutions network and family mediation to formalization of social rights (birth certificates, Integrated Insurance System, among others).
Through medical or psycho-social emergencies and contact with the community, the mobile teams reach the most vulnerable and, often, those who remain hidden: children victim of family violence or in situation of abandonment, drug use or adolescent pregnancy. The bond of trust formed with the beneficiaries also permits the teams to propose commitments of the person in favor of his/her own personal development. Then, the teams make follow-up visits to the beneficiaries in order to guarantee compliance with the agreed commitments.
- Preventive education:
The mission of mobile teams is developing a health and prevention education action for populations that, due to the social, family and sanitary exclusion they suffer, are not covered by common right programs. Particularly, the teams inform children, adolescents and their mothers about the social and health risks they have to face, providing advice on hygiene, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health, enabling them to take actions to control their health.
Mobile teams also carry out sensitization and prevention campaigns in the remote areas of Huaycán (nutrition campaigns and campaigns against diseases with high occurrence rates in Huaycán, such as gastrointestinal diseases, acute respiratory infections and tuberculosis).
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