ILC-Uganda
Mission
The mission of ILC-Uganda is to promote a successfully functioning project as a model for geriatric community support in low-income countries, all of which have rapidly growing populations of older adults. The Kisoro Elders Project empowers community health workers, in our case called Village Health Workers (VHWs), to deliver this support, thereby addressing the lack of health care professionals in Uganda as well as many low-income countries. VHWs screen older adults for common problems of aging which directly affect their intrinsic capacity and functional abilities. Our interventions for vision impairment, hearing loss, mobility and pain problems, depression, dementia, lack of energy source, malnutrition, and urinary incontinence provide authentic, person-centered care in line with the WHO ICOPE approach to a continuum of integrated health and social services for older adults. Furthermore, the improvements in intrinsic capacity and functional abilities which the interventions produce allow older adults to continue to make valuable contributions to their families and communities. This helps to fulfill the ILC mission of projecting a positive view of older adults in their societies. We will collaborate with other groups, including the Ministry of Health and other governmental agencies, as well as other NGOs involved in the care of older adults, to effect improvements in health care and social welfare programs for older adults, in Kisoro District and across Uganda.
Aims
We aim to:
- Make the training materials of the Kisoro Elders Project available to any group or community interested in helping older adults. Instructions for screening and low-cost interventions performed by community health workers (Village Health Workers) are available for: Vision, Hearing, Mobility and Pain, Depression, Dementia, Energy Poverty, and planting healthy gardens. We will be adding training modules concerning urinary incontinence.
- Provide consultation and training for other individuals, groups, and communities seeking to adopt features of The Kisoro Elders Project.
- Highlight the health and social welfare needs of older adults, as well as their contributions to their families, communities, and Ugandan society.
- Act as an advocacy group for improvements in the health care and social welfare systems of Uganda to benefit older adults.
Major Funding Sources
All financial support comes from philanthropy to The Center for Aging in Uganda/The Kisoro Elders Project.
Affiliations
Doctors for Global Health Uganda, Kisoro, Uganda
Kisoro District Hospital, Kisoro, Uganda
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Global Health, New York, NY
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, New York, NY
Partnerships
Food Forest Africa, Gerald Nkusi, Director
Let There Be Light International, Sarah Baird, Director
Activities
- Village Health Workers (VHWs), supervised by Kisoro Elders Project and Doctors for Global Health staff, screen the 5000+ older adults in 50 villages of Kisoro District for problems with vision, hearing, mobility, pain, depression, dementia, lack of energy source, and urinary incontinence.
- VHWs provide reading glasses, hearing devices, ear wax washouts, canes, pain medication, solar light units, and incontinence products to older adults who screen positive for problems.
- KIsoro Elders Project Depression Team members and VHWs collaborate in providing depression support groups for older adults identified with mild to moderate depression, using the Interpersonal Therapy methodology of peer counseling. Alumni of the groups participate in VHW-led social support groups.
- VHWs participating in the Kisoro Elders Healthy Food for Healthy Aging project teach intergenerational groups of young people and older adults to plant healthy gardens which combat malnutrition and mitigate the effects of climate change.
- Visiting Scholars Program provides consultation to other individuals/groups seeking to adopt elements of the Kisoro Elders Project for their own community
Key Staff
Iraguha Moses, Director
Vallence Nkurunziza, Associate Director
Harrison G. Bloom, MD Co-Director
Patricia A. Bloom, MD Co-Director
Website: https://aginginuganda.org
Contact information
Moses Iraguha: mosesiraguha@yahoo.com +256 780 441036
Vallence Nkurunziza: vallence.seb@gmail.com +256 773 229239
Harrison Bloom: harrisongbloom@gmail.com +1 914 393 3645
Patricia Bloom: patriciaabloom@gmail.com +1 914 261 7784
