The groundwork of all happiness is health.

Our health programmes focus on two essential things: 1) developing healthy habits and 2) connecting kids and young people with services when they need help.

Why focus on health?

Health and poverty are strongly linked.

That’s because health issues are often the factor plunging families into poverty. Plus, many kids and young people face conditions that make them predisposed to health issues. By investing in health, you’re helping kids and the youth to build a future for themselves.

Our health programmes support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. No. 3 is: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages. Learn more about SDG #3 here.

How does your support help?

Kids enrolled in YUVA’s programme have access to the just-right mix of resources based on location, age and life circumstances. 

Here are some of the ways your support helps to reinforce healthy habits:

1. Sharing information (presentations, pamphlets, posters and one-on-one counselling) about critical health topics tailored to children or caregivers;
2. Working to identify health-related attitudes and influence them with comprehensive communications;
3. Creating learning opportunities where kids can practice skills in a supportive environment;
4. Fostering individual support for kids and families with health challenges;
5. Using peer modelling to demonstrate healthy behaviour; and
6. Reducing barriers to healthy behaviours.

And here are ways your support makes health services available and affordable:

1. Operating medical and dental clinics and pharmacies at medical centres services are not otherwise accessible or affordable;
2. Helping kids and their families access and enrol in existing government/public health insurance programmes;
3. Providing subsidies for out-of-pocket expenses where support doesn’t exist;
4. Creating partnerships with local hospitals, clinics and pharmacies to reduce costs; and
5. Mapping services to bring services closer to sponsored communities.

Each year, 2 million children die from preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia because families can’t afford treatment.

What gets measured?

(In other words, how do you know it’s working?)

“What gets measured gets done,” someone once said. (And we agree!) We work with Statistics Mauritius and independent auditors to measure specific results as part of our programme.

When trying to achieve healthy behaviours, here is what we measure:

1. Increased knowledge: Kids need to be equipped with information to make good choices. They may have no idea that certain behaviours put their health at risk, and different people and communities have different perceptions (and misperceptions) about health. By giving kids accurate information, you’re helping them to make healthy choices for a lifetime.
2. Improved attitude: All the information in the world won’t help if kids don’t believe changing behaviour is important. We’re making sure kids and their parents see these issues as relevant to them.
3. Increased self-efficacy: Finally, kids have to believe they can really pull off these healthier behaviours. Part of that comes down to designing interventions that can work for them in their circumstances. The rest of it is instilling in kids the confidence and belief to keep it up.

When it comes to the use of health services, we look at these results:

1. Improved availability: Kids can’t use health services if they’re not available in the first place. We make sure our children can get to nearby providers when they are open and at times that work for our families.
2. Improved affordability: Our kids are living in poverty. We make sure their financial conditions aren’t a road block to accessing care.
3. Increased demand: Once care is accessible, we work to make sure people use it when they need it. We teach individuals about where to find services and ensure they’re happy with them.

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