Learning and human factor development team
The Learning and Human Factor Development Team plays a central role in enhancing the competence and confidence of health professionals to manage acute sexual and reproductive health (SRH) conditions. Through structured, hands-on training and coaching, the team focuses on building both technical and non-technical skills essential for safe, timely and person-centered care. By integrating learning into practice, emphasizing teamwork, communication and decision-making, the team helps transform frontline care environments into continuous learning spaces improving outcomes for women and families across Ethiopia.
The team leads the implementation of Structured Point of Care Ultrasound (SPOUS), a five-week, practice-focused obstetric ultrasound training designed for mid-level professionals working in rural and primary healthcare settings.
This competency-based program equips providers with the essential skills to detect high-risk pregnancies, guide timely referrals and enhance emergency obstetric decision-making at the point of care. By expanding diagnostic capacity closer to where women seek care, SPOUS improves maternal and newborn outcomes while advancing equity in access to essential imaging services
To strengthen interfacility linkages and patient transitions, the team provides targeted communication and team management training for healthcare providers. This initiative focuses on effective referral communication, collaborative problem-solving and leadership in emergency contexts.
By building accountability and shared learning among teams across the care continuum, the program ensures smoother patient transfers and reduces delays in receiving life-saving SRH services
Recognizing the need for preventive care within routine services, the team also supports integration of cervical and breast cancer screening into existing SRH and primary care platforms. This approach enhances early detection and continuity of care by offering screening during family planning, antenatal or postnatal visits.
By linking screening with education, counseling and referral pathways, the initiative builds provider skills and system readiness to deliver comprehensive, woman-centered care within the primary health system
At the 39th Bethune Round Table, our team actively contributed three strong abstracts to the conference themed “Pursuing Equity in Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma and Anesthesia (SOTA) Care: Bridging the Gap”. Our presentations included “Operative Delivery Task Shifting: Current Experience in Ethiopia” documenting how ACSIS-supported operative delivery services are scaled in rural Ethiopian settings, “Enhancing Access to Operative Delivery Services in Rural Primary Healthcare: Integrating Technical, Human and Cultural Values in Ethiopia”
exploring how ACSIS aligns technical skill-building with local culture, workforce and system values and “Care Behavior Impact and Acceptability of Focused Scope, Structured Point of Care Obstetric Ultrasound (SPOUS) Provided at Point of Practice in Selected Rural Primary Care Setups in Ethiopia” sharing evidence from our SPOUS training program and its acceptability among providers and patients
At the FIGO Congress in Cape Town in early October, ACSIS engaged in sessions focused on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), aligning with FIGO’s launch of the new WHO-FIGO consolidated guidelines for PPH prevention, diagnosis and treatment. ACSIS representatives attended and contributed to the technical and policy discussions on PPH, bringing the lens of our maternal health systems work from Ethiopia to the global stage.
During the PPH sessions, ACSIS shared how our program strengthens timely referral, operative delivery services and integrated care in maternal emergencies bridging frontline diagnostics and provider capability, especially in underserved regions. Our participation emphasized how improving obstetric readiness, workforce capacity and system linkages contributes meaningfully to the global goal of eliminating PPH-related maternal mortality
