Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Supporting community health workers in South Africa for context-specific food and nutrition literacy: implementation of a multi-media education-entertainment intervention

This study tested whether comics and short video clips shared through mobile platforms could improve food and nutrition knowledge among community health workers in South Africa. After six months, participants showed better skills in meal preparation, planning, and overall nutrition literacy. The results suggest that multimedia education can be a useful tool to strengthen CHWs’ … [Read more...] about Supporting community health workers in South Africa for context-specific food and nutrition literacy: implementation of a multi-media education-entertainment intervention

This study explored what community health workers (CHWs) in Buffalo City, South Africa, need to do their jobs better. Through interviews and focus groups with 23 CHWs, they suggested support such as transport, regular training, better communication tools, work IDs for recognition, and more resources to reduce heavy workloads. They also stressed the need for permanent, paid jobs … [Read more...] about Improving Community Health Program: Perspective of Community Health Workers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

This study looked at how community health workers (CHWs) in Mozambique used a mobile app called mUzima to support people living with HIV. Data from nearly 9,000 visits showed that CHWs worked about 3 days a week, spent around 3 minutes recording each visit, and used the app for about 3 hours a day. Many CHWs entered data after hours and even on weekends. The findings show that … [Read more...] about Evaluation of mHealth Usage Logs for Health Provider Performance in HIV Care in Zambézia Province, Mozambique

This study explored how community health workers (CHWs) in Malawi were trained to better support adolescent mothers. After attending workshops, the CHWs became more open and supportive, moving away from judgmental attitudes. The training helped them deliver life skills sessions in a more gender-responsive way, showing that such programs can improve support for young mothers. … [Read more...] about Empowering community health workers in Malawi to deliver gender responsive life skills training for adolescent mothers to overcome social exclusion

This study looked at whether community health workers (CHWs) in six African countries are providing the nutrition services outlined in national policies. Interviews with 735 CHWs and a review of policy documents showed gaps between what CHWs are supposed to do and what they actually deliver. While most CHWs provided child-focused services like Vitamin A, deworming, and … [Read more...] about Assessing the gap between policy and practice: community health workers’ contributions to nutrition services in Sub-Saharan Africa