The HSG Hub is a product of the partnership between CHW Central and the Health Systems Global Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Supporting and Strengthening the Role of Community Health Workers in Health System Development.

To support the generation, synthesis and communication of evidence on the roll out and functioning of community health worker programs and to enable learning across geographical and political contexts
The role of CHWs in fragile and conflict-affected settings
By: Maryse Kok, Ph.D., KIT Royal Tropical Institute On the 25th of November 2020, the Thematic Working Group organized a session titled ‘Supporting and strengthening the role of community health workers in health system development’ for the online Health Systems Global Symposium. This session, which focused on the role of CHWs in fragile and conflict-affected settings, had four speakers and about 65 participants. Readers can watch the session here. There is a large global body of evidence on CHW programmes. Based on this evidence, the World Health Organization published a guideline on health policy and system support to optimize CHW programmes in 2018. There remains a need to learn more about the role of CHWs, and how effective CHW programmes present in fragile and conflict-affected settings. CHWs play an important role in the provision of community-based services where formal health systems can be (temporarily) weakened or dysfunctional. CHWs and other community-level actors can also play a role in emergency and disaster preparedness and response. We all know that CHWs have been instrumental in the response to disease outbreaks; most recently in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and currently in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic. CHWs have also proved to…
The role of CHWs in fragile and conflict-afflicted settings
The Health Systems Global Thematic Working Group (TWG): ‘Supporting and strengthening the role of community health workers in health system development’ will be hosting a panel session at HSR 2020 second phase. The goal of the (TWG) is to support the generation, synthesis and communication of evidence on the roll out and functioning of community health worker (CHW) programmes and to enable learning across diverse geographical and political contexts. In the session the TWG will focus on the role of CHWs in fragile and conflict-affected settings. CHWs play an important role in the provision of community-based services where formal health systems may be (temporarily) weakened or dysfunctional. CHWs and other community-level actors can also play a role in emergency and disaster preparedness and response (disease outbreaks and/or natural disasters). While it is known that CHWs play important roles – preventive, promotive and often also curative – in various fragile contexts, there is limited evidence about specific circumstances and factors that influence CHWs’ work in these contexts. Even more so than in non-fragile settings, health system and community support influence CHW performance. Likewise, a lack of such support can lead to overburdened and stressed CHWs. CHWs’ resilience and coping mechanisms in…
HSG Hub Resources
Announcing a special collection of articles on community health workers
Community health workers’ involvement in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Wakiso District, Uganda
This study assessed the involvement of Community Health Workers in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the Wakiso District, Uganda. Research focused on the current knowledge, attitudes and…
Feasibility of establishing a network of community health workers to support care of people with sickle cell disease in Kumasi, Ghana
Sickle cell disease (SCD) remains a common, yet highly neglected, non-communicable disease. This study assessed the interest in and feasibility of establishing a network of CHWs to support care of…
Equipping community health workers with digital tools for pandemic response in LMICs
Keeping CHWs safe and informed as they are deployed in pandemic response needs to be a top priority at the community level. With restrictions around movement and PPE shortages, equipping…
Community health workers’ attitudes, practices and perceptions towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian low-income communities
Community Health Workers (CHW) are a category of social workers described in many countries’ health systems as responsible for engaging people in their residences and communities, and other non-clinical spaces…
Interplaying role of healthcare activist and homemaker: a mixed-methods exploration of the workload of community health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists) in India
In India, CHWs, also known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), have been deployed since 2005. By engaging them in various healthcare delivery models, they have become essential to providing…
From village health volunteers to paid care givers: the optimal mix for a multidisciplinary home health care workforce in rural Thailand
Thailand’s population is aging. Given a shortage of healthcare workers in rural areas, a barrier between the delivery of adequate home health care services to the eldery exists. Research from…