Promoting Care and Support in Home Isolation

Targeting vulnerable groups staying in home isolation

COVID-19 spread rapidly in rural communities and villages across Nepal where not much testing is being carried out and there is a lack of medical care for severe cases. There is also an urgent need to ensure that local communities, especially infected people staying in home isolation, have access to essential health care and hygiene products. FAIRMED Nepal developed home isolation kit as per the National Guideline for Isolation Kit Distribution to promote care and timely management of critical conditions of COVID-19 patients staying in isolation at home and reduce transmission of disease.

The kit includes medical face mask, thermometer, pulse oximeter, paracetamol, tissue paper, gloves, and a home isolation leaflet. EHP is on a mission to deliver 100 home isolation kits to COVID-19 infected pregnant/lactating mothers and elderly persons with chronic illnesses. The project has delivered home isolation kits to 10 pregnant/lactating mothers and 46 elderly persons with chronic illness, so far.

Case Story: An elderly COVID-19 patient receives home isolation kit

Santa Bahadur Gurung, 80, from Marmi village in Ward-8 of Badganga Municipality, Kapilvastu tested positive for COVID-19 on June 13, 2021 while his infected son was already staying in isolation at home at that particular time.

The family that was already struggling to care for the infected son, now also had the added responsibility of looking after the elderly patient. Gurung is a diabetic and also has had a paralysis which created a greater challenge in terms of his care and management at home.

EHP’s Community Health Mobilizer (CHM) Yamuna Panthi with Himlal Ghimire (Incharge of Motipur Health Post) jointly visited Gurung’s house and identified the family’s dire need of support for care and provided them with the home isolation kit. Both the patients and family members were counselled on key steps to be followed while staying in home isolation and the use of items made available in the kit. 

Gurung’s wife Chandrakala said, items like the face mask, gloves, and sanitizer helped the family a lot, especially eased her in caring for her husband and son. The family members became less worried as they were able to check Gurung’s fever and oxygen level using the thermometer and pulse oximeter that were placed in the kit.

They were also supported by health workers from Motipur Health Post through frequent follow-ups via phone-call and home visits. The kit also helped in preventing transmission of the disease to other members, and the son has now recovered and re-opened his meat shop while Gurung has also completed his isolation period safely.