Online edition (Version 1)

Accompagnateurs—community health workers trained and employed to provide medical and psychosocial support for their neighbors—have played a crucial role in our community-based health care programs since Partners In Health (PIH) started working in Haiti more than 20 years ago. Recognizing accompagnateurs as the bridge between health clinics and the community, this training curriculum has two overarching goals—to help accompagnateurs develop competence in active casefinding for diseases and social needs, and to instill a sense of solidarity and social justice in supporting patients, households and the community.

		Accompagnateur Curriculum First Edition • 2008 Partners In Health Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change, Harvard Medical School Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, Brigham and Women’s Hospital François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health Editor-in-Chief: Joia S. Mukherjee, MD, MPH
	This curriculum was made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Download complete volumes: Accompagnateur Training Guide [pdf, 53.1 mb] Accompagnateurs Handbook [pdf, 46.9 mb] Flipcharts [pdf, 32.9 mb] Slides [ppt, 55.1 mb] Or review contents and download individual units by selecting from the menu at the right.

This pilot curriculum for accompagnateurs comprises 15 units, with a focus on treatment and support for patients with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The training is tailored to be given over seven consecutive or separate days, after participants have received their initial orientation by PIH clinical staff. The curriculum includes parallel materials for use by trainers and participants, as well as visual aids for use with each unit. The Accompagnateur Training Guide for facilitators provides detailed steps on how to train accompagnateurs in the skills and knowledge needed to carry out their work. The Accompagnateurs Handbook is designed to be used by accompagnateurs both as a manual during the training and as a reference when they are working with patients in the community. Visual aids are also provided in two alternative forms – flipcharts and slides.

The curriculum covers the following topics:

• Treatment, prevention, side effects, and risk factors for HIV, TB, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other infectious diseases
• The roles and responsibilities of accompagnateurs
• Challenges faced by accompagnateurs and ways of dealing with them
• The impact of HIV/AIDS on women
• Recognizing and reducing stigma and discrimination
• Effective communication and psychosocial support

Based upon adult learning principles, the curriculum incorporates a variety of participatory approaches to teaching and learning that build upon the existing knowledge, skills and experience of the participants.

We are currently pilot testing this curriculum with four partner programs in Haiti, Lesotho, Malawi, and Rwanda. At the same time, we would greatly welcome comments from users online.

We have organized the curriculum so that you can easily review the contents of each unit and download the components you need. For each topic, you will find:

• an introductory page, outlining the objectives, training activities and key points of the unit
• the complete unit from the facilitators' Accompagnateur Training Guide
• the same unit from the Accompagnateurs Handbook
• visual aids to use when teaching the unit, available either as a flipchart or as PowerPoint slides

So that we can learn from your experience and ideas, we have provided space for your comments on all of these components on the introductory page to each unit. This pilot version is a work in progress and we look forward to making it even better with your help.

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