Check and update the Road to Health booklet at each consultation and on each admission and discharge.
The South African Road to Health Booklet is an extremely important document for the child and family.
It is designed to support and integrate the various child health strategies such as IMCI, EPI, TB and HIV care and the Integrated Nutrition Programme. It reminds health care workers to look for, respond to, and record important events and care given to the child.
OWNERSHIP OF THE BOOKLET
The Road to Health Booklet is the exclusive property of the parent (primary caregiver) and the child. This is important as the booklet contains information on the child's health including HIV status, and if the booklet is used for other purposes, mothers may hide the booklet or refuse to allow important information to be recorded in it. This can result in the child receiving less than optimal care.
USE OF THE ROAD TO HEALTH BOOKLET
Issuing the Road to Health Booklet
At birth, all children should be issued with a Road to Health Booklet - in which all vital information is recorded including:
- Name and date of birth (front cover)
- Details of child and family
- Neonatal information
- Immunisations at birth
- PMTCT/HIV information
Use at health service contacts
On the cover the booklet states:
"IMPORTANT: always bring this booklet when you visit any health Clinic, doctor or hospital"
To use the booklet effectively the attending nurse or doctor should ask, at each attendance, to see the Road to Health booklet both due to its intrinsic value as part of a child health consultation and to emphasise the importance of the booklet and its use to the mother.
On each visit, complete/record appropriately
- Well child visit routine care (incl. growth, TB status, PMTCT HIV status, feeding etc.)
- lmmunisations given
- Information on the HIV status of the mother and child (if HIV-exposed)
- Vitamin A and deworming
- Weight for age, length/height for age and weight for length/height charting
- Any clinical notes (ideally using IMCI classification, treatment and follow up should be made in the clinical notes)
- Any hospital admissions should be recorded
During the health visit certain care given will depend on whether this is a scheduled well child visit, a follow-up visit, or a first attendance for a new illness.
