At Caritas Nigeria, we have developed an innovative strategy known as the Congregational Approach (or more popularly Baby Shower) which leverages the physical infrastructure and complex social networks of religious congregations for health promotion and delivery. This approach was successfully deployed in three different projects within the 4GATES program: the GRAIL Project, the MoH Project, and the CARES Act Project.
GRAIL Project
The Galvanizing Religious Leaders for Identification and Linkage to Pediatric ART (GRAIL) Project aimed to identify HIV in children and link them to care. Religious leaders were trained on both pastoral and scientific aspects of HIV pathology and used as champions to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention and stigma reduction messaging. This project achieved early diagnosis of HIV in children and significantly reduced stigma, reaching over 90,000 adults through 88 medical outreaches.
MoH Project
The Messages of Hope (MoH) Project was implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to increase awareness and uptake of COVID-19 prevention strategies, transform perceptions of COVID-19, and reduce vaccine hesitancy. The project engaged faith leaders to create and disseminate messages of hope, reaching 40,000 children with HIV messaging and training 236 faith leaders who further trained 600 additional leaders.
CARES Act Project
The CARES Act Project focused on leveraging faith communities to identify COVID-19 cases, link them to appropriate structures for management, and build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine. The project engaged 147 full-time and 183 ad hoc staff from faith communities, traced over 64,000 contacts, and vaccinated over 2 million people. It also trained and sensitized thousands of faith and community leaders on COVID-19 contact tracing and vaccine safety.
Origin
The congregational Approach takes its origin from the ‘Baby Shower initiative’ implemented in Benue State in 2016/2017. Pregnant mothers were encouraged to bring their husbands to the Church service where the couples received health talk and got tested for HIV and other health screenings. In return each couple received free delivery items as they prepared to welcome their baby. The strategy worked wonders and enabled the project to achieve tremendous and the organization gain global recognition in HIV care and treatment programming.
Impact on 4GATES
The Congregational Approach significantly impacted the 4GATES program by increasing COVID-19 vaccination uptake, integrating COVID-19 interventions into faith community structures, and strengthening relationships with state agencies. This approach has proven effective in addressing both HIV and COVID-19, demonstrating the power of faith communities in health promotion and disease prevention.