Level: 2
SAQA ID: 64749
Credits: 140
PURPOSE:
​
This Qualification is for any individual who is, or wishes to be, involved in Ancillary Health Care services. A learner who has achieved this qualification will integrate a range of basic awareness and competences to perform the roles of health promoter, assistant or health provider and assist the health networker within a community development context.
The Qualification will facilitate access to and mobility and progression within education and training for learners who were previously disadvantaged or who were unable to complete their schooling and were therefore denied access to Further Education and Training. It will also assist those who have worked in this field for many years, but have no formal recognition of knowledge and skills that they have acquired non-formally but would like to achieve this recognition through the process of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and/or formal study.
Learners who complete this Qualification will have better self and social awareness and will possess a wider range of skills to better understand and function in the ancillary health care field in various community contexts. Learners successfully completing this Qualification will provide a service that will assist communities to better manage their own health and wellness. They will have the skills to support team members and assist in the provision of support services within a multi-disciplinary health care team. Practitioners will generally carry out their roles within the context of the client's home, a community care centre and/or the broader community.
Learners successfully completing this Qualification will be capable of:
-
Communicating in a variety of ways by assisting in the provision and implementation of primary health care within a community.
-
Creating awareness on critical health care issues within a community.
-
Performing health care activities.
-
Managing self-development and implementing fundamental administrative, physical and life skills to ensure ongoing well-being and work productivity.
RATIONALE:
The South African Government is committed to combining the national human resource development strategy with the rapid upgrading of service delivery to all of the nation's communities.
An integral part of this strategy is initiatives to strengthen communities` abilities to empower themselves to participate in the political, economic, and social and development spheres of South African life. Two key components in this empowerment are communities` abilities to integrate with and access state services, and their ability to further the health and wellness of community members.
​
There is no doubt from the international experience of Community Health Workers (CHW) that they play a role in improving the basic health status of communities. In South Africa, the important supportive role of CHWs in the provision of health care services has been extensively documented. This contribution is further exemplified in those parts of the country where there is a shortage of professional health workers to provide the necessary health care services based on identified needs.
The Department of Health is leading the implementation of a multi-professional team-based approach to health care delivery, where each member of the team has a defined role to ensure that there is no duplication and overlapping of functions.
Since Ancillary Health Care workers are found throughout the country - from established urban areas to scattered farms and deep rural areas - the type of learner to enter for this qualification is equally varied. The first level qualification in the bouquet is at NQF Level 1, ABET Level 4 and the last qualification is the FETC: Community Health Work at NQF Level 4. As a result, learners will vary in age, in background and in level of formal schooling. The common denominator is the desire to help their fellow beings.
​
This Qualification will equip the learner with the essential skills and knowledge required to effectively perform the Ancillary Health Care function. The Core Unit Standards consist of competencies relevant to assisting in various spheres of health care projects to achieve health care objectives, examining the effects of fatigue in the workplace, understanding and applying the principles of primary health care to projects within a community, including participating in health promotion activities, providing information about HIV and AIDS and treatment options, providing information about Tuberculosis, first aid procedures. Further the learner will assist in the establishment of good nutrition programmes and assist the community in accessing services according to their health related human rights.
​
Contact us to learn more:
​
​
​