Community Health Work Under Occupation: Towards the Development of a New Model to Address Social and Political Determinants of Health in Palestinian Refugee Camps
Program Context
Aida and al-Azza refugee camps were founded in Palestine in 1950 and currently have an estimated population of 7,500 and a population density of roughly 220,000 people per square mile. Aida and Al-Azza are adjacent to the separation wall and a military barracks in Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A recent report described the Aida camp as the most heavily teargassed population in the world.1 Lajee Center, a community-based cultural center located in Aida, and 1for3, a Boston-based NGO that empowers underserved Palestinian communities, established the Health for Palestine (H4P) initiative to address the social and political determinants of health in both camps. H4P is a community health worker (CHW) program that focuses on non-communicable diseases and psychological trauma related to the historical and ongoing colonial violence that so profoundly mark trajectories of Palestinian refugee wellness. The program’s goal is to generate a people-centered grassroots health movement that will coordinate with existing health delivery partners, which can be integrated into a comprehensive health system. Starting in 2018, the initiative presently supports six CHWs and 80 clients. This case study describes the H4P CHW initiative and shares results of a recent qualitative research study that will help refine the program and contribute to its expansion in this complex environment in which individual health is heavily influenced by geopolitics.
Moving from Services to Advocacy: Maximizing the Role of Community Health Workers in Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes
Program Context: Public health continues to move toward a holistic community approach. This transition requires the participation of historically marginalized populations in policy, systems, and environmental work to address the social determinants of health that perpetuate health disparities. Equity has become a buzzword in the field. However, to truly achieve equity,…
Equity and Community Health Workers: Redefining Community Health
In 1920, almost one hundred years ago, the first community health worker (CHW) program was established in China. The Farmer Scholars, later called Barefoot Doctors, were illiterate farmers trained to take vital statistics, deliver vaccines, provide first aid, and give health talks. The program became famous for its marked successes…
Universal Health Coverage Day 2018
The achievement of universal health coverage requires the availability of trained health workers at the community level. CHWs are an essential element of the community health workforce; yet, to harness the potential of CHWs to extend health services to poor and marginalized populations, there is an urgent need to optimize…
Appreciating the critical role CHWs play in the HIV/AIDS response
For World AIDS Day 2018, we want to recognize the critical role that community health workers play in the HIV/AIDS response. Across the globe, CHWs of various kinds—from full-time salaried community health workers to part-time peer educators and mentor mothers—provide services essential to ensurring continuum of care, combating stigma and…