Our overarching goal at Friends for Health in Haiti is to improve the health and change the lives and hearts of the people of Haiti. We desire to do this by providing integrated health care to patients of all ages, in a nurturing, Christian environment. We feel that it is important to maintain dignity while providing charitable care, instill a sense of responsibility, rather than contribute to dependency and strive for long-term sustainability by keeping our administrative processes simple and making wise use of limited resources.

Our developing model of care involves the following key concepts:

• Care for patients of all ages each day
• Point of care education using “teachable moments” during acute illness
• Services directed to areas of greatest need (epidemiologically directed services)
• Best practices incorporated into clinical guidelines for care
• Empowerment of communities through participation in decision-making and responsibility for some of the costs of care
• Nurturing, respectful, compassionate environment
• Development of relationships as a priority: clinic staff relationships with the surrounding communities, local churches and religious leaders and the government sector, community members’ relationships with one another, especially the vulnerable, malnourished, elderly, and homeless
• Teaching and mentoring of Haitian counterparts
• Collaboration with and integration into the public health care system, including provision of immunizations, tuberculosis treatment, HIV testing and treatment, community education activities, and capacity building at the local government hospital in Jeremie
• Integration of Christian witness with demonstration of strong moral and ethical principles in daily life and practice
• Integration of traditional healers into the formal health sector

We invite you to share your ideas with us as we continue to develop this innovative model of care.