High Country News: Neighbors on call to help care for one another

"...Partners In Health, which was founded just down the road in Cange by renowned physician and humanitarian Paul Farmer, has been recruiting and training individuals like Benissois since the late 1980s and placing them on the frontlines of the organization’s efforts to combat cholera, HIV and other major health threats. But the 2010 earthquake that devastated this rugged Caribbean nation — killing an estimated 220,000 people, injuring more than 300,000 more and leaving some 1.5 million homeless — brought to the forefront another widespread Haitian health risk: This country of more than 10 million people had only 10 psychiatrists. The loss of homes, jobs and loved ones in the quake triggered a rash of depression that Haiti’s few specialists, already struggling to treat a host of other mental health issues, were ill-equipped to handle. In the central plateau, Partners In Health tasked its community health workers (CHWs) to help fill the gap in mental health coverage...."

To read the full feature about how PIH's community health work is being echoed in Montana, click here: https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.13/the-montana-gap-neighbors-on-call-to-h…;