Focus Areas

ENHANCING CARE FOUNDATION (ECF)

ENHANCING CARE FOUNDATION (ECF) is a not for profit, public benefit organisation which aims to promote better quality health care in South Africa. ECF has developed collaborations with national and international universities to provide expert-driven solutions to health problems in resource-limited countries. ECF’s work focuses on Research, Capacity Development and Health Systems Strengthening.

Research
ECF undertakes relevant research in the fields of HIV and TB. The leadership of ECF is widely published in these fields and various research initiatives are ongoing. Research studies are conducted independently as well as in collaboration with US- and African-based research and tertiary institutions. Although the focus of the research is related to therapeutics of HIV and TB, health systems and implementation science research is also undertaken.

Capacity development
ECF has a programme of capacity development which targets health care workers and policy makers. The former includes mainly doctors and nurses but has recently included lower levels of health care workers including community health workers. Teaching is done by face to face programs as well as a state of the art electronic learning platform. The focus of the teaching relates to the clinical management of HIV and TB but also extends to elements of health systems strengthening. ECF is the South African partner of the East Southern African HIV Knowledge Hub,

Health Systems Strengthening
Health systems strengthening is led by public health specialists and involves an understanding of the gaps in the South African Health Care System and a strategy to address these gaps. ECF works with partners including BroadReach Health Care to undertake programs to address weakness in the health care system. Currently, ECF is engaged in a program to improve the efficiency of mentoring of clinical staff at hospitals and clinics. ECF supports the strategy of task shifting in dealing with HIV care. In particular, ECF promotes the Department’s Nurse Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (NIMART) strategy to address the huge challenge of providing comprehensive care to all HIV infected people. ECF also provides support to facility managers and promotes leadership, governance and effective facility management.