Table 1 Features of the capacity-building interventions Upper West Region of Ghana

Conducted 2019–2020

Covered all 11 districts in Upper West Region

Included all levels of health staff, down to Community Health Planning (CHP) services facilities, community volunteers and family members

Covered regional health management team, staff from regional hospital, district hospitals, health centers/clinics and each CHP across all 72 sub-districts

Included tutors from health professional training institutions (nursing and midwifery training colleges)

Relied primarily on a cascaded training approach

Provided essential supplies (consumables) to health facilities and to affected persons trained in self-care to carry out self-care at home

Involved the formation of self-care groups in every district that would come to health facilities for health education days

Training included morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) content, patient presentation and demonstration, plus monitoring, supervision, and reporting of MMDP activities tailored to management and regional/district staff

Training manuals provided. Also, registers for documenting services were printed and provided for each level of the health system down to the health-facility level

A system was created for reporting data recorded in registers to the national level through neglected tropical diseases coordinators and health information offices

Every person affected attended training with a family support person, who was also trained in managing self-care, assisting with seeking care, and reducing stigma