Ten Steps A Guide for Health Promotion and Empowerment of People Affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases

Ten Steps: A guide for health promotion and empowerment of people affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases is a gift of compassion, a guide to compassionate action. It provides clear instruction in the essential practical skills needed to relieve suffering caused by NTDs, especially those that affect the limbs, such as leprosy and lymphatic filariasis. The guide is also highly relevant for people with other NTDs such as Buruli ulcer, as well as for managing skin wounds, the complications of diabetes and many other conditions. 
The guide is written primarily for caregivers – health workers, traditional healers, community volunteers and teachers – who can serve as “Health Coaches” to empower affected persons, their families and their communities. It addresses not only physical health issues faced by those with NTDs, but also the crucially important problems of impaired participation, limitations in activity and stigmatizing attitudes that create barriers for people with NTDs. The authors provide both encouragement for self-care practices and instruction on when to seek further help.

The Ten Steps package contains three sets of materials: a training guide, a summary card with key messages and actions, and a manager’s executive summary of each step.

Original Work by Linda F. Lehman, Mary Jo Geyer and Laura Bolton | Updated by Linda F. Lehman, July 2015