Results: 3069
The community health worker as service extender, cultural broker and social change agent: A critical interpretive synthesis of roles, intent, an accountability (2020)
CHWs connect the communities in which they live and the health systems in which they are immersed. Marta Schaaf and her colleagues identified the three main roles of CHWs in bridging this gap: the service extender (bringing medical services to the people), the cultural broker (interpreting medical services for theRead more…
Community Health Worker employer survey: Perspectives on CHW workforce development in the midwest (2018)
US states increasingly seek to enact CHW workforce development programs to provide frontline support for community health, but limited guidelines offer consensus about how to develop and implement these programs. Virginia Chaidez, Angela Palmer-Wackerly, and Kate Trout surveyed CHW employers in Nebraska to inform Nebraskan CHW workforce development. Based onRead more…
Task sharing in health workforce: An overview of community health worker programmes in Afghanistan, Egypt and Pakistan (2018)
People living in WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region countries rely on CHW programs to receive health support. Rachel Folz and Moazzam Ali examined the available evidence on three CHW programs across Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to understand how to scale up or develop CHW programs in the region. Results underscore theRead more…
Effect of a Community Health Worker-led multicomponent intervention on blood pressure control in low-income patients in Argentina: A randomized clinical trial (2017)
Patients in low- and middle-income countries often experience challenges controlling hypertension-related blood pressure. Jiang He and his team examined whether a CHW-led Hypertension Control Program in Argentina could be an effective tool to help patients improve hypertension control. Results indicated that this lifestyle modification intervention represented an effective tool forRead more…
Community Health Worker support for disadvantaged patients with multiple chronic diseases: A randomized clinical trial (2017)
Training for CHWs tends to focus on disease-specific interventions, but this training might not fully address the health needs of patients experiencing multiple chronic conditions. Shreya Kangovi and her team created IMPaCT (Individualized Management for Patient-Centered Targets) to teach CHWs how to provide tailored coaching, social support, advocacy, and navigationRead more…
Financing Alliance for Health Country Case Study: Zambia (2020)
Financing Alliance for Health has produced a series of country case studies providing robust information on community health system profiles, taking a financing lens. Each case study includes insights on community health system context, structure and lessons on financing. Zambia’s Ministry of Health in 2007 synthesized evidence based practices fromRead more…
Strengthening Primary Health Care through Community Health Workers: Closing the $2 Billion Gap (2020)
This report strengthens the knowledge base around the need for community health financing and draws lessons from two unique examples—Zambia and Ethiopia—on financing pathways to secure additional resources.
A monitoring and evaluation gap for WHO’s community health worker guidelines, Botswana (2020)
A 2018 literature review conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that CHWs are effective at improving population health across countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Americas. Based on their results, the WHO developed guidelines to ensure CHWs perform their roles effectively. Stephanie Watson-Grant and co-authors reportedRead more…
Impact of mobile health-enhanced supportive supervision and supply chain management on appropriate integrated community case management of malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in children 2-59 months: A cluster randomized trial in Eastern Province, Zambia (2020)
Poor supply chain management and a lack of supportive supervision represent challenges to successful treatment of childhood illnesses like diarrhoea, malaria, and pneumonia. Godfrey Biemba and his team wanted to know whether a mobile health (mHealth) system could help CHWs monitor medical stock and improve the quality of supervision andRead more…
When financial incentives backfire: A community health worker experiment in Uganda (2020)
CHWs sometimes charge for health products like those used to treat child diarrhea, but limited research has examined whether or not a fee-for-service model improves CHW performance. Zachary Wagner and his team compared the performance of Uganda-based CHWs who charged for their services against those who did not. Those whoRead more…
How do decision-makers use evidence in community health policy and financing decisions? A qualitative study and conceptual framework in four African countries. (2020)
Decisions about whether and how to finance and support close-to-community community health programming are best driven by evidence about what “works,” but a recent study by Meghan Bruce Kumar and her team suggests that the evidence base is limited. The researchers took a look at financing decisions in Ethiopia, Kenya,Read more…
The distinctive roles of urban community health workers in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review of the literature (2020)
As low- and middle-income cities grow in size, community health workers increasingly require evidence-based guidance to understand how to deliver health services to the urban poor. Teralynn Ludwick and her team reviewed the literature to understand the role of CHWs in urban health systems. CHWs often took on similar rolesRead more…
Community health workers for pandemic response: a rapid evidence synthesis (2020)
This paper presents the results of a rapid evidence synthesis (RES) on CHWs and their role in COVID-19 control and prevention. The authors note that, although more research on implementation is required, findings support the vital role of CHWs in the COVID-19 response. They stress the importance of role clarity,Read more…
The Effects of Community Home Visit and Peer Group Nutrition Intervention Delivery Platforms on Nutrition Outcomes in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020)
The authors in this study highlight the importance of CHW-led delivery systems aimed at improving nutrition-focused interventions. A systematic literature search produced results that indicate an increase in early initiation of breastfeeding, children’s minimum dietary diversity, and minimum meal frequency. The data indicate that CHWs improve infant and child nutritionalRead more…
Exploration of Community Health Workers’ views about in their role and support in Primary Health Care in Northern Cape, South Africa (2019)
The objectives of this study conducted in South Africa were better understand CHW views of their work and work environment. Findings showed that CHWs perform various health and social care roles, they believe they make a substantial impact on the primary healthcare system, and the system relies on them. TheyRead more…
COVID-19: It Ain’t Over Until There’s PPE All Over (2020)
This article argues for the need for CHWs to be provided with sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE). CHWs are key actors in the the COVID-19 response at the community level. The authors outline the negative effects PPE shortages have on CHWs and, ultimately, the community.
Malaria knowledge and experiences with community health workers among recently pregnant women in Malawi (2020)
In Ghana, intermittent preventive therapy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) is recommended for pregnant women to prevent malaria. This household survey assessed the results of community-based IPTp-SP provision by CHWs. Results show women had positive experiences with CHWs, knowledge malaria in pregnancy did not improve markedly, but served by CHWs had aRead more…
Assessing community health worker service delivery in humanitarian settings (2020)
Humanitarian emergencies prompt a crucial need for services and resources, especially for populations that don’t live within easy access to health facilities. There has been a renewed interest in CHWs and their ability to deliver services, such as routine exams and emergency responses, during humanitarian crises. However, the authors foundRead more…
Surgical symptomatic knowledge among medical staff and community health workers in rural Cambodia: a descriptive study for workforce improvement ()
Researchers distributed a questionnaire in rural Cambodia to assess the level of surgical knowledge among physicians, CHWs, and community members. The median scores for surgical symptomatic knowledge was 8 for medical staff, 8 for CHWs, and 8.5 for villagers. The study’s authors concluded that medical staff in rural areas neededRead more…
Performance of volunteer community health workers in implementing home-fortification interventions in Bangladesh: A qualitative investigation (2020)
This paper explored individual, community, and BRAC work-related factors that influenced volunteer Shasthya Shebika (SS) performance. The authors found that age, education, experience, and community recognition positively affected SS performance. However, they also noted challenges with BRAC, particularly in its compensation of SS. The paper concludes by advising BRAC toRead more…
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