El Salvador

The Pan-American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO) developed a combination prevention intervention in Central America that delivers HIV prevention behavior change communication (BCC) messages, products, services, and referrals to promote improved condom and condom-compatible lubricant use, HIV testing, violence reporting and the use of complementary services. [from abstract]

A study was undertaken in Mexico, Colombia, and El Salvador to determine the impact of a management training program on health managers’ job performance. Factors associated with a successful training outcome were training techniques, strengthening of enabling factors, and reinforcement mechanisms. [adapted from abstract]

Recent studies involving physicians in training have shown that excessive work hours are associated with an increased rate of medical errors and adverse events. The problem of excessive work hours of physicians in training in El Salvador has political and economic roots that need to be addressed by politicians and public health policy makers. [adapted from author]

The results [of this study] combined with the small size of El Salvador suggest that alternative strategies to community health workers may be a more cost effective approach. While prevention is desirable, community health workers do not have the skills or services that the communities value, which makes them less effective in promoting prevention. Alternative modes of reaching the community could reduce costs and raise the effectiveness of public health spending. [from abstract]

This paper examines the experience with using various incentives to motivate and retain community health workers (CHWs) serving primarily as volunteers in child health and nutrition programs in developing countries.