CAPE TOWN- While South African health care workers continue to work on the front lines in the battle against Covid-19, a local initiative has started to link small support groups to individual healthcare workers.
Care4carers is an initiative part of the non-governmental organisation (NGO)
Heartlines
that offers support to anyone working in the medical facility, from cleaners to doctors, to nurses and admin staff.
CEO of the organisation, Dr Garth Japhet said: “We are very aware that the health care workers go into these life and death situations at the hospital. It’s very much like going into a war-like situation and then going home afterwards. You find that not many people understand what they go through”.
The healthcare worker can sign up on the
Care4carers
page and are then connected to a small church connect group who then commit to support and pray for the person.
The Care4carers team matches the health care worker to a group based on location and language. The initiative is open to all regardless of faith.
“The groups support the workers in a variety of ways, as church people, prayer is one of them, but people are also blessing the health care workers with flowers, pot plants or a meal. It doesn’t have to be financial, it is primarily a group of people who are sending in words of encouragement when the worker is having a rough day,” he said.
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