Community Health Workers

Preparing the Next Generation of Community Health Workers: The Power of Technology for Training

This extensive report gathered evidence and research to see if technology could be harnessed in transformative ways to address critical gaps in community health worker (CHW) training in Sub-Saharan Africa. It covers: the importance of CHW, current approaches to CHW training, emerging evidence and opportunities. [adapted from author]

Experience of Community Health Workers Training in Iran: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to analyse the community health worker (CHW) training process in Iran and how different components of training have impacted on CHW performance and satisfaction. [from abstract]

Improving CHW Program Functionality, Performance and Engagement: Operations Research Results from Zambia

The Community Health Worker Assessment and Improvement Matrix (CHW AIM) was designed to help assess communtiy health worker program functionality and to provide benchmarks against which to measure program improvements. This operations research activity was designed as a field intervention study that applied the CHW AIM process. [adapted from summary]

Engagement of Non-Government Organizations and Community Care Workers in Collaborative TB/HIV Activities Including Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission in South Africa: Opportunities and Challenges

Using South Africa as a case study, this article reports on the engagement of non-governmental organizations and community care workers in the implementation of collaborative tuberculosis/HIV activities in rural South Africa, including extent of participation and constraints and opportunities to enhance effective participation. [adapted from abstract]

Revisting Current Barefoot Doctors in Border Areas of China: System of Services, Financial Issue and Clinical Practice Prior to Introducing Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)

This study aimed at assessing the current situation of the health system of rural health care and evaluating the clinical competency of village doctors in management of childhood illnesses prior to implementing IMCI program in remote border rural areas. [from abstract]

Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Alternative Cadres in Community Based Rehabilitation

This systematic review evaluates existing evidence regarding the effectiveness of alternative cadres working in community based rehabilitation in low and middle income countries. [from abstract]

Impact of Dropout of Female Volunteer Community Health Workers: An Exploration in Dhaka Urban Slums

The study estimates the cost of recruiting and training of community health workers (CHWs), the cost of replacement of CHWs, and forgone services in the community due to CHW dropout. [adapted from abstract]

Performance of Community Health Workers Under Integrated Community Case Management of Childhood Illnesses in Eastern Uganda

This study compared the performance of community health workers managing malaria and pneumonia with performance of those managing malaria alone in eastern Uganda and the factors influencing performance. [from abstract]

Community Health Workers Provide Crucial Health Services in Ghana's Remote Communities

The brief describes the difference a community health worker program has made to the lives of children in one remote region of Ghana.

Maternal Mortality Reduction Program Assistant Training

This training program is designed for community health workers working in maternal and child health and covers topics such as family planning, reproductive health, gender violence, prevention of mother-to-child HIV among others.

Can Volunteer Community Health Workers Decrease Child Morbitiy and Mortality in Southwestern Uganda? An Impact Evaluation

This impact evaluation was conducted to assess volunteer community health workers’ effect on child morbidity, mortality and to calculate volunteer retention. [from abstract]

Impact of Community-Based Support Services on Antiretroviral Treatment Programme Delivery and Outcomes in Resource-Limited Countries: A Systematic Review

Task-shifting to lay community health providers is increasingly suggested as a potential strategy to overcome the barriers to sustainable antiretroviral treatment scale-up in high-HIV-prevalence, resource-limited settings. This article report on a systematic review of scientific evidence on the contributory role and function of these forms of community mobilisation. [adapted from abstract]

MHealth4CBS in South Africa: A Review of the Role of Mobile Phone Technology for Monitoring and Evaluation of Community-Based Health Services

This study sought to understand what the field of mHealth had to offer, to explore how mHealth is implemented in practice and to use these two sources of information to reflect on the lessons and implications for implementing mHealth at scale for monitoring and evaluation of community based services and community health workers. [adapted from summary]

Community Health Workers

This brief presents an overview of issues related to community health workers and human resources for health along with suggested actions, key considerations, and resources. [from author]

Developing Lay Health Worker Policy in South Africa: A Qualitative Study

The aim of this study was to explore contemporary lay health worker policy development processes and the extent to which issues of gender are taken up within this process. [from abstract]

Searching for Common Ground on Incentive Packages for Community Workers and Volunteers in Zambia

This study reviews experiences and lessons learned regarding monetary and non-monetary incentives for community workers. It includes indicative costings and recommendations for further policy and development with regard to the effective recruitment, training and deployment of community workers in Zambia. [adapted from summary]

Increasing Access to Family Planning (FP) and Reproductive Health (RH) Services through Task-Sharing between Community Health Workers (CHW) and Community Mid-Level Professionals in Large-Scale Public-Sector Programs

This literature review attempted to evaluate the evidence base on the use of task-shifting between community health workers and mid-level providers to increase access to family planning and reproductive health. [adapted from author]

Improving Partnerships between Health Workers and the Community for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

This policy brief addresses the role of partnerships between health workers and the community, for the purposes of improving maternal, newborn and child health in resource-constrained settings, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region. [from author]

Human Resource for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health at the Community Level: What Do We Know?

This policy brief summarises the critical workforce issues
highlighted from a review of the literature of maternal,
newborn and child health services at community
level, with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region. [from author]

Economic Valuations of Community Health Workers' Recompense in Zambia

The objectives of this study were to estimate the economic value of community health workers (CHW), current CHW’s workload and responsibilities, and to obtain a preliminary understanding of CHWs’ opinions of the role they serve in their communities (job satisfaction) and how these services are viewed by members of their communities. [adapted from summary]

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Ghana: Feasibility of a Faith-Based Organizational Approach

This study examined the feasibility of using community health workers to implement cardiovascular disease prevention programs within faith-based organizations in Accra, Ghana. [from abstract]

Human Resources for Health in Maternal, Neonatal and Reproductive Health at Community Level: A Profile of Papua New Guinea

This profile summarises the available information on the cadres working at community level in Papua New Guinea: their diversity, distribution, supervisory structures, education and training, as well as the policy and regulations that govern their practice. [from author]

Household Surveillance of Severe Neonatal Illness by Community Health Workers in Mirzapur, Bangladesh: Coverage and Compliance with Referral

As part of a community-based package of maternal-neonatal health care, community health workers (CHWs) were trained to conduct household surveillance and to identify and refer sick newborns according to a clinical algorithm. Assessments of newborns by CHWs at home were linked to hospital-based assessments by physicians, and factors impacting referral, referral compliance and outcome were evaluated. [from author]

Impact of Community-Based Maternal Health Workers on Coverage of Essential Maternal Health Interventions among Internally Displaced Communities in Eastern Burma: The MOM Project

This article evaluates a pilot project to examine the feasibility of an innovative three-tiered network of community-based providers for delivery of maternal health interventions in the complex emergency setting of eastern Burma. [adapted from author]

Voices from the Field: Perspectives from Community Health Workers on Health Care Delivery in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

As the primary link between the formal health care sector and the household level in South Africa, community health workers (CHWs) provide a critical perspective on barriers
that exist in rural health care delivery. The results of this study suggest that CHWs recognize the need for HIV/AIDS- and TB-related interventions but are unable to provide a response commensurate to this need. [from abstract]

Review of the Utilization and Effectiveness of Community-Based Health Workers in Africa

This review examines the use of various categories of community health workers as first line health workers in dealing, for example, with maternal and child health, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other issues throughout Africa. [from author]

Promoting Health Lifestyles: Community Health Workers' Intervention Programme for Primary Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in Khayelitsha, an Urban Township in Cape Town

A community-based project to increase community awareness about primary prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was implemented in an urban township of Cape Town. The aims of project were to utilise community health workers as change agents in their community and to develop a NCD model for an urban township community. [adapted from author]

Community Health Workers: An Important Resource Towards Achieving the MDGs

Based on lessons learned from Tanzania, this resource advocates for the integration of community health workers (CHWs) into the revised HRH strategic framework, including the development of new strategies to enable CHWs to contribute more effectively to improved maternal and newborn health outcomes. [adapted from author]

Community Health Workers and Health Educators: Building Understanding and Partnerships in Education

This webinar’s presentation includes: defining the community health worker (CHW), case study of a CHW, CHW core roles and competencies, core values and code of ethics, and CHW-health educator partnership opportunities. [from author]

Community Health Workers: Social Justice and Policy Advocates for Community Health and Well-Being

This article argues that community health workers can connect people to health care and collect information relevant to policy. As a result of direct interaction with the populations they serve, they can recount the realities of exclusion and propose remedies for it, contribute to best practices, and inform public policy. [adapted from abstract]