InterHealth

Whole Person Healthcare for NGOs, Aid and Development Agencies and Charities

Are your staff and volunteers ready to face their overseas assignment?

Are they medically, emotionally and psychologically prepared for the situations they will face?
Do they have a medical condition that could flare up in an overseas environment?
Do they really know which jabs, medicines and travel supplies they’ll need?

Do they know how to keep healthy in a resource-poor environment?

Contents

Pre-Assignment:
Medical Screening
Travel Health Advice

During Assignment
Telemedicine

Post Assignment
End of Assignment Medical
Confidential Review
Trauma Management

UK-Based Staff
Biennial Medical
Work-Life Balance/ Stress Mgmt
Counselling
Occupational Health

Further Information
Membership

InterHealth’s range of travel health services has been designed to meet the varying needs of aid and development workers and the requirements of their sending agencies. We can help you to meet the guidelines for staff health and welfare as recommended in the People In Aid Code of Good Practice – before, during and after an international placement.

Download full details [PDF]

PRE-ASSIGNMENT

Medical Screening Options

Selecting the wrong candidate could have serious consequences – for them personally, for their work and for you as a sending organisation. As part of your selection process, consider sending your candidate to InterHealth for a Pre-Assignment Medical and Psychological Profile, to help you to determine whether they are physically and emotionally fit to carry out the role expected of them in an international mission environment.

1. Pre-Assignment Medical

A thorough 45-minute medical check-up with an InterHealth doctor. This involves taking a medical history of past and present symptoms, a physical examination and any standard tests, including blood tests. The doctor will determine appropriate action for any health concerns, including advice about managing pre-existing conditions overseas, when access to quality healthcare may be scarce. A report is provided to the individual and to their sending agency. Also available for any accompanying dependents.

2. Psychological Profile

An in-depth 90 minute interview with an InterHealth Psychological Health practitioner. Topics such as life history, family background, and current circumstances will be taken into account, and any issues that may cause difficulties for the candidate in the future will be explored. A psychological report is provided to the sending agency, including recommendations that can be used as a development tool.

Combined Candidate Assessment

The Pre-Assignment Medical and Psychological Profile are available as a discounted package with further discounts available to members.

3. Adult Health Screening

InterHealth has developed a pre-assignment health screening programme for staff recruited outside of the UK (or where it is impossible to visit InterHealth for a medical).

About InterHealth

InterHealth is a healthcare charity specialising in tailored healthcare services for the voluntary sector including the many of UK’s leading international aid and development agencies, NGO’s, gap year agencies, mission agencies and charities.

Based in Central London, our well respected team of doctors and medical professionals offers a mix of professionalism and understanding. With their clinical experience and professionalism plus an insight into the issues faced by voluntary sector workers, they are well equipped to identify the healthcare needs and concerns of your staff, volunteers and dependents.

Following a medical check up with their local doctor (GP), the individual will forward medical details and test results to InterHealth’s doctors, who will use their specialist understanding of travel health and the nature of the candidate’s forthcoming assignment to assess their suitability for their planned role. InterHealth will report back to the sending agency. Health advice is available to the individual, to help manage pre-existing conditions during their assignment. This is also available for accompanying dependants.

4. Volunteer Health Screening

For volunteers who are travelling overseas for less than 12 months, a paper-based health screening is a quick and cost effective way of ensuring that they are fit to travel. Pre-existing conditions such as asthma, severe allergies, diabetes, or a history of depression can be identified and properly managed in an overseas context. More serious health concerns can be followed up with their local doctor (GP) or at InterHealth.

Contact InterHealth for further advice about health screening for travellers aged 65 and over.

PRE-ASSIGNMENT

Travel Health Advice

Travel Health Consultation

Your staff and volunteers can visit InterHealth’s Travel Health Clinic for an unhurried 30 minute consultation with an experienced nurse. We’ll consider the specific circumstances of their trip - including personal medical details, length and destination of trip and type of work. The nurse will provide a personalised immunisation plan and recommend appropriate malaria prevention, medications and travel supplies. This is a free service for InterHealth Members. (Any immunisations or travel supplies that are deemed necessary as a result of the consultation will incur a charge.)

Health Information Packs

These packs give tailored advice on destination-specific health issues including fact sheets on health concerns such as malaria or rabies. A customised immunisation plan and recommendations about malaria prevention and travel supplies is also provided. Particularly useful for teams or if a traveller is unable to visit InterHealth for a face-to-face travel health consultation.

Health Briefings

Teams about to embark on their overseas placements may benefit from a briefing from a travel health nurse. InterHealth nurses are available to provide on-site briefing sessions which can be tailored to your requirements. Topics such as vaccinations; food hygiene; safe drinking water; insect protection; road safety and STD’s can be included.

Travel Supplies

InterHealth’s Travel Supplies Centre stocks a wide range of specialist travel health products including first aid kits, malaria prevention, mosquito nets, insect repellent, medicines and much more! Our advisory service considers the particular nature of the traveller’s assignment. Orders can be sent by post or collected in person. Visit our online Travel Supplies Centre

Travel Health Publications

InterHealth supplies a range of publications including 'The Traveller’s Good Health Guide' written by Dr Ted Lankester (order online). Designed for overseas workers and volunteers, it is an essential travelling companion, packed with useful travel health advice.

Our Travel Health E-Newsletter, written specifically for frontline aid workers is sent every 6 weeks. It is freely available to InterHealth Member Organisations to forward to staff electronically.

DURING ASSIGNMENT

Your international staff and volunteers may be a long way from a reliable or trustworthy source of medical care, but our telemedicine support means that InterHealth members can speak to an InterHealth doctor or nurse by telephone or email about any health concern. Vital support and reassurance for your staff and volunteers is available around the clock, including an emergency out-of-hours telephone line.

POST ASSIGNMENT

It is not uncommon for mission staff to return from an assignment with travel-related infections, which if left unchecked can cause long-term difficulties.
An End-of-Assignment Medical will help to identify and manage any health concerns that have arisen during their time overseas. This could include tests for travel related illnesses such as malaria or bilharzia.

A Confidential Review (debrief) with one of InterHealth’s accredited counsellors or psychologist may be helpful to work through any problems that returning mission personnel or their dependents may be facing, including reverse culture shock, ongoing depression or anxiety.

The end-of-assignment medical and confidential review can be bought together as a discounted Combined End-of-Assignment Package.

A paper-based Clean Bill of Health screening is recommended following a short-term overseas trip to help provide reassurance that any health problems caused by travel are quickly identified and properly managed.

Occasionally your mission personnel may experience stressful or traumatic situations during their time abroad. InterHealth’s Trauma Management Services are specifically designed to support anyone who has been subject to trauma during their time abroad.

A confidential Personal Impact Review can help anyone who has been through a critical incident such as a mugging, abduction or a serious road traffic accident. It is also suitable for anyone who has witnessed a traumatic or violent event. It is a routine appointment likely to benefit anyone with normal post trauma stress reactions.

UK-BASED STAFF

Biennial Medical

InterHealth offers a carefully focused medical for UK-based staff, especially those in positions of responsibility and/or who travel overseas regularly. Support your UK staff - including managers and frequent travellers - with a medical check up every two years - the Biennial Medical programme.

In addition to a thorough medical with one of our doctors, the Biennial Medical PLUS provides a further 90 minutes of confidential discussion with one of our experienced Psychological Health practitioners to discuss any issues your staff may have, including: work-life balance, stress management, anxiety and burnout or how to cope with the pressures of their work and life.

Seasonal Discounts

We are pleased to offer a seasonal discount for Biennial Medical appointments made before 29th February 2007. To book an appointment, phone us on
020 7902 9000 quoting Biennial Medical or Biennial Medical PLUS.

Find out more at www.interhealth.org.uk/biennialmedicals.htm

Work-Life Balance, Stress Management and Counselling Services

InterHealth offers a range of psychological health services. Our team includes a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and counsellors. Services include a series of confidential counselling sessions to help address issues of personal development or specific difficulties. Work-Life Balance or Stress Management consultations help identify ways to reduce stress levels, maximise performance and work and enhance personal wellbeing. They are available either as part of the Biennial Medical PLUS or can be booked independently.

We seek to offer a flexible service, appointments can be made for individuals and couples and if you have a request to see a particular practitioner every effort will be made to accommodate your preference.

Occupational Health Services

InterHealth provides a comprehensive range of Occupational Health Services which can be tailored to meet your specific needs as an organisation. InterHealth’s Occupational Health team are equipped with specialist skills to help you to improve attendance, to enable and support rehabilitation and to prevent ill-health caused by work.

Occupational Health services offered include:

• Pre-Employment Health Screening

• Sickness Absence Management

• Work Station Assessments

• Risk Assessments for specific job roles

• Ill-Health Retirement Assessments

• Occupational Health Audit

For further details of InterHealth’s occupational health services visit www.interhealth.org.uk/oh.htm

FURTHER INFORMATION

Membership

Organisations and individuals involved in the charity, mission, aid and development sectors are eligible to join InterHealth’s Membership Scheme. Members can take advantage of discounted fees and added-value benefits.

The key benefits of membership include:

InterHealth will act as medical, travel health and/or occupational health adviser for you, as appropriate
Significant discounts in supplies & services (such as immunisations, travel supplies, health screenings and much more)
Access to our travel health telephone advice line and out-of-hours emergency phone service
Email access to medical professionals for advice on immunisations, antimalarials and medical information
Access to priority travel clinic bookings and early/late appointments reserved for members
Frontliners Travel Health Newsletter
Free updates on current health issues and disease outbreaks, such as Avian Influenza.For more details visit our website, or call 020 7902 9015.

Setting Up an Account

InterHealth will provide you with an account code when you become a client. This enables us to invoice your organisation centrally when your staff or volunteers visit us or buy supplies from us. We can help you to decide whether there are certain immunisations and supplies which you will provide for all your travelling staff as standard, and other ‘extras’, which the individual can pay for separately. If you have joined as a member organisation your staff and volunteers can access the discounted member prices even when they are paying for items themselves.

What to do next

We would be delighted to support you and your staff and volunteers with healthcare services and supplies. Information about our services can be found on our website or you could call us to discuss your requirements and to understand how InterHealth could best support you. For enquiries about membership and our other services call 020 7902 9015.

You can also download full details of all these services in PDF format.

For further advice about how InterHealth could support your staff and volunteers email askus@interhealth.org.uk or call 020 7902 9015.

Please note that while every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, InterHealth & its staff cannot accept responsibility for any loss, illness, injury or inconvenience resulting from the use of the above information. Readers are encouraged to seek medical help whenever possible.

Office Address:

111 Westminster Bridge Road

London

SE1 7HR