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Key practice: Treatment and follow-up visits to health facilities after an illness
Critical for complete recovery
Follow the health worker’s advice about taking medication, the treatment, follow-up visits and referral.
Why is it important to follow the health worker's advice
- Parents and caregivers need to understand the importance of seeking urgent medical care. The patient may need treatment that only the health facility can give.
- It is important that parents/caregivers learn and understand what has been told to them by the health worker at the health facility.
- Support the completion of the treatment at home, including giving the child the full course of medicines. Follow the schedule received from the health facility.
- If the child is being treated at home, also emphasize there is a need to continue breastfeeding the child frequently or, if the child is not breastfed, to offer water and other fluids until the child is well.
- If the child is receiving complementary food, give the child their favourite food more often and in small quantities. Extra feeding after the child is well is important as it enables the appetite to return and will help with gaining of weight.
- Through the follow up visits, one can easily notice if the child is not improving and quickly assist take him/her back to the health facility for further treatment/care.
