Community Interventions

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

This profile summarises the available information on the cadres working at community level in Vanuatu: their diversity, distribution, supervisory structures, education and training, as well as the policy and regulations that govern their practice.

This article describes a community intervention conducted aimed at improving early malaria case management in under five children. Health workers were trained to train community-based women groups in recognizing malaria symptoms, providing first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria and referring severe cases. [adapted from abstract]

The objective of this study was to assess whether the development and implementation of a community health worker project in rural Kenya was associated with an increase in knowledge about malaria and the use of insecticide-treated nets in children under five years of age. [from abstract]

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

This article discusses the Health Extension Program, an innovative community-based health program in Ethiopia. It is based on the assumption that access to and quality of primary health care in rural communities can be improved through transfer of health knowledge and skills to households.

This article explores community health worker (CHW) programs and describes their potential use in low- and middle-income countries. It uses South Africa as an example of how CHWs could improve access to breast health care because of its middle-income status, existing cancer centers, and history of CHW programs. [adapated from abstract]

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

For more than 25 years, family medicine residencies have worked with community health centers (CHCs) to train family physicians. This study compares CHC and non-CHC-trained family physicians regarding practice location, job and training satisfaction, and recruitment and retention to underserved areas. [from author]

Much of current discussion of task shifting focuses on community health workers who are seen as relieving doctors, clinical officers, and especially nurses of some of the health promotion and direct care and support work that professional cadres are frequently unable to deliver because of personnel shortages and distance from communities they service. However, task-shifting cannot work unless close attention is paid both to the systems that support successful implementation and to needed expansion of human resources within overall health care system. [adapted from author]

This technical taskforce report focuses on providing broad cost guidance, deployment strategy and operational design considerations for community health worker subsystems as part of health system strengthening to achieve the Millenium Development Goals. [from author]

This toolkit was designed to help organizations assess community health worker (CHW) program functionality and improve program performance. Built around a core of 15 components deemed essential for effective programs, CHW the toolkit includes a guided self-assessment and performance improvement process to help organizations identify program strengths and address gaps. [adapted from introduction]

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

This article and the accompanying video tell the story of a community health worker, Almaz Doiso, in Ethiopia who is responsible for the health needs of more than 500 families in one of the most remote regions of the world - South Omo Ethiopia. [adapted from author]

This article outlines a prospective evaluation of the effectiveness of using community health workers as delivery points for ACT and RDTs in the home management of malaria in two districts in Zambia. [from abstract]

The purpose of this paper is to describe implementation and impact of a community-based prenatal care trial on the utilization of prenatal care and perinatal outcomes in China. [adapted from abstract]

The authors conducted a cluster randomized trial to assess the effect of community-based peer health workers on AIDS care of adults in Rakai, Uganda. [from abstract]

This paper examines the case of South Africa, where there has been rapid growth of a range of lay workers (home-based carers, lay counselor, DOT supporters etc.) principally in response to an expansion in budgets and programmes for HIV, most recently the rollout of antiretroviral therapy. [from author]

The toolkit describes a process of implementing community empowerment in maternal and neonate health (MNH) and each step of the process, including guidelines and training manuals for the implementation process. The aim of this toolkit is to provide an example of possible best practice in community mobilisation to compliment medical based initiatives to reduce maternal death. [adapted from author]

The term “Desa Siaga” describes the concept of community members owning their own resources and capacities for preventing and overcoming their own health problems, health emergencies and disasters based on mutual support and in a spirit of togetherness. This cost analysis provides additional information for all stakeholders contributing to informed decision making regarding DS implementation and this from an economic perspective. [from executive summary]

This summary of evidence about the effect of lay health worker programmes (on mother and child health and tuberculosis) is derived from a Cochrane Review published in 2010. This video builds on the SUPPORT Summary of the same review, prepared for health policy makers in low and middle-income countries.

This summary is based on an update of a Cochrane systematic review published in 2010. The summary focuses on the effects of lay health worker interventions in improving maternal and child health and tuberculosis outcomes. [from author]

This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of community health workers with a focus on identifying the critical elements of an enabling environment that can ensure they provide quality services in a manner that is sustainable for expanding the health workforce to scale up HIV services. [adapted from author]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of an Afghanistan community midwifery program in Takhar Province, to capture key lessons learnt from the first round of training, and to draw conclusions for future initiatives. [adapted from author]

This article provides key lessons learned from a large-scale community-based efficacy trial of a two-tiered system of community-based workers to deliver a package of essential maternal and newborn-care interventions and one of three umbilical cord-care regimens in Bangladesh.

This study used both qualitative and quantitative measures to evaluate the role of the communtiy health workers in enhancing the interface between primary health care oriented health services and households in responses to HIV
and AIDS. [from author]

Studies and field observations have found that community health workers (CHWs) can provide injectables safely and that community access to injectables attracts new contraceptive users. This guide is designed to assist the many health professionals and advocates who are interested in making injectable contraceptives more widely available, especially for women with little or no access to health facilities. The guide describes six steps that advocates can take to support policy change to permit CHWs to provide injectables. [from summary]

This 2:21 video introduces Ade Yanarsih’s work and challenges as a local health worker and community midwife in Kampung Cirendeng, Indonesia.

This 2:56 minute video is part of the Good Goes campaign and showcases the work of Felix Aguilar Ramirez, a community health worker in the Xachmochan village in Guatemala.

This report evaluates what kind of health care and health education were still being promoted five years after the Kisumu Primary Health Care project had ended, and what had happened to all the voluntary health workers that had been trained as part of the project’s focus on community health workers and community involvement in service delivery. [adapted from author]