Our Vision and Mission
ANSWERS is a non-profit professional organization established in 1994 in Hyderabad, as a technical resource centre in nursing, midwifery, women’s health, public health and gender equity in health. Our Mission is quality an equity in health care.
How it all started!
MyTRI Institute is the physical facility of ANSWERS, and headquarters of its operations. The Organization realized the need for heaving its own facility when a large number of training programmes requiring teaching, learning and residential facilities were being planned on a regular basis. Renting was becoming expensive and inconvenient, and was affecting the quality of work due to stress of last minute refusal and restrictions about hours of utilization. The decision to develop prototype labs for teaching and communication, for skill learning related to childbirth, made the issue of heaving own premises even more urgent. Procuring such a facility with the meager corpus fund of the Organization was doubtful. Dr. M. Prakasamma’s donation of one acre of land from her farm at Peddapur village made it possible for ANSWERS to plan for self sufficiency in physical facilities. The buildings were conceived in 2005 and constructed during 2006-07 after permissions related to land conversion and building plans were obtained. MyTRI Institute is strategically located on the busy NH9 between Hyderabad (60 Kms) in Telangana and Bidar in Karnataka (70 Kms). Two major towns are located on either side within ten km distance – Sangaredy and Sadashivpet of Medak district – making access to health and emergency services within minutes. MyTRI Institute makes ANSWERS self reliant with academic, administrative and teaching related activities organized in one place within an environment – friendly and spacious atmosphere. Faculty live on the campus. Round the clock power and water availability, and access to internet make residential programmes effective. While all its programmes, administration and training activities are conducted at MyTRI Institute, the Organization retains its registered office at Hyderabad for liaison, communication and networking.
TRACS
Our areas of focus
Training, research, advocacy, capacity building and situation analysis are our focus areas
Traning and material development
Developing training materials, designing training progrmmes, conducting training for different groups such as tutors, nurses, doctors, researchers, leaders and community development workers, is a major thrust area. ANSWERS has prepared and published books, journals, checklists, guides and audiovisual aids for training and intervention. The Organization has expertise training from conducting indepth and long term mentoring for small groups of senior professionals as well as organizing large scale training for thousands at a time.
Research and intervention
The scope of research activities at ANSWERS ranges from indepth analysis and case studies to large scale community based surveys. ANSWERS specializes in intervention and implementing studies, and modl development. Some models such as the Women Health Volunteers Training, Adolescent Girls’ Capacity Building Programme, Establishment of Skill Labs, have been adopted and adapted in government programmes and institutions.
Advocacy and information
Advocacy is a continuous and inbuilt programme within ANSWERS. Advocacy is focused around quality and equity issues with strong emphasis on maternal health, labour room reforms, introduction of midwifery, choices relate to family planning, access to abortion, and above all, for comprehensive primary health care within the public health system. A large area of advocacy is around strengthening nursing education and uplifting nurses’ status for overall improvement in health care
Community capacity building
Capacity building and enhancing the potential of both users and consumers has remained a central theme of ANSWERS. The focus has been on gender equity within health professionals and in the provision of health care. Adolescents, women, HIV positive persons, minorities and marginal groups, auxiliary health workers and female health personnel have received attention. Capacity building of 70,000 ASHAs or women health volunteers for one month each within a period of two years is a major contribution of ANSWERS.
Situation analysis
Situation analysis including feasibility assessment has occupied a large area of focus of the Organization. The assessments have been conducted on the request of state and central governments as well as international agencies.
Vision
The Academy for Nursing Studies works for promotion of the highest quality of health in the Country through qualified and committed health service providers. It aims to achieve this through promotion of safe child birth by qualified midwifery, nursing and medical personnel; advocacy for better qualified public health personnel; and equitable distribution of public health services.
The Academy for Nursing Studies believes that quality of health care can be improved with knowledge, skill and commitment among providers and with active participation of clients. Research, training and information dissemination in health fields therefore are the major areas of focus of the Organization. Community involvement, active participation and capacity development are major thrust areas of the Organization in all its activities.
The Academy for Nursing Studies perceives that nurses and midwives as women and professionals have great potential for contributing to community health in general and women's empowerment in particular. If nurse midwives and women work hand in hand, the improved provider-client relationship will benefit both. With this objective the Academy for Nursing Studies strives for uplifting the knowledge, skill and commitment among health care providers and bridging the gaps between providers and clients.