Community health workers (CHWs) and pharmacists can work together to help patients, but their collaboration isn’t well understood. This study interviewed 29 CHWs and pharmacists in Australia and New Zealand. CHWs helped connect patients with pharmacists, supported medication use, and reinforced pharmacist advice. Challenges included unclear roles, poor communication, and lack … [Read more...] about Interprofessional Collaboration Between Community Health Workers and Pharmacists
Care Teams
Lessons Learned from Reinforcing Epidemiologic Surveillance During the 2017 Ebola Outbreak in the Likati District, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo created an Ebola virus disease (EVD) surveillance team in response to new EVD cases in 2017. Early mobilization of a cohort including CHWs led to the successful detection and containment of cases. The authors note several key lessons and recommendations to improve disease outbreak control in rural areas. … [Read more...] about Lessons Learned from Reinforcing Epidemiologic Surveillance During the 2017 Ebola Outbreak in the Likati District, Democratic Republic of the Congo
An Emerging Model for Community Health Worker–Based Chronic Care Management for Patients With High Health Care Costs in Rural Appalachia
CHWs can help improve population health by guiding individuals through behavioral changes. Through a chronic care model managed by mixed teams of qualified medical providers and CHWs, this intervention sought to improve diabetes control in an underserved rural population. From baseline to six months, 63% of the cohort had decreased fasting blood sugar levels; study authors also … [Read more...] about An Emerging Model for Community Health Worker–Based Chronic Care Management for Patients With High Health Care Costs in Rural Appalachia
Enabling Community Health Worker Recognition and Referral of Surgical Diseases: Pilot Study Results of a Pictorial Guide
Access to surgical care represents a pressing challenge in LMICs, particularly for vulnerable populations. Community health workers (CHWs) and lay people play diverse roles in primary health care in these settings. However, they remain disconnected from surgical care in most environments. This study looked to assess the degree to which CHW understanding of surgical conditions … [Read more...] about Enabling Community Health Worker Recognition and Referral of Surgical Diseases: Pilot Study Results of a Pictorial Guide
Effect of a Community Health Worker-Based Approach to Integrated Cardiovascular Risk Factor Control in India: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Several previous studies have evaluated the ability of community health workers (CHWs) to target individual cardiovascular risk factors. This study presents findings from a randomized control trial aimed at integrating CHW lead efforts for hypertension, diabetes and smoking control. It revealed that CHWs have a significant effort on hypertension and promotes the use of … [Read more...] about Effect of a Community Health Worker-Based Approach to Integrated Cardiovascular Risk Factor Control in India: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial