The Ghana mentoring program: a network of support and excellence

16.02.2011 Skilled and motivated clinical providers are the backbone of a successful comprehensive abortion care program. However, providing abortion care can be difficult because of logistical, operational and cultural barriers. In settings where abortion is heavily stigmatized, providers may feel alone and unsupported. Providers who have recently received abortion care training often need additional support to feel confident providing a new service. Mentoring, a reciprocal and collaborative learning relationship between an experienced provider and a new provider, can ensure abortion care clinicians feel empowered to perform their work and do not become overwhelmed by technical and cultural barriers to care provision. Ipas Ghana has implemented the Mentor Provider Network, a successful mentoring model that identifies, supports and builds a network of highly skilled abortion providers and mentors to ensure Ghanaian women are receiving the best care possible.

Dr. Joseph Mills, Ipas Ghana senior training and services advisor, explains the cultural barriers facing abortion providers: “In Ghana, comprehensive abortion care services are still stigmatized and as a result, some providers are treated negatively by colleagues or community members because they are abortion providers and easily drop out after their training. The mentoring relationship has reduced this occurrence.”

Ghana’s mentoring model is based on the premise that high-level investment in fewer carefully screened individual clinicians leads to sustainable, high-quality abortion care. “In our stigmatized and religious environment, added to our long-held traditional beliefs, the introduction of mentoring as an integral part of preparing a would-be provider has contributed a great deal in maintaining service provision in most facilities. Our program is very careful in selecting a mentor for a mentee. The mentor continually provides guidance. The corollary is a self-motivated provider who is ready to work against all odds to save a woman in need,” explains Dr. Koma S. Jehu-Appiah, Ipas Ghana country director. More >>