Decisions about whether and how to finance and support close-to-community community health programming are best driven by evidence about what “works,” but a recent study by Meghan Bruce Kumar and her team suggests that the evidence base is limited. The researchers took a look at financing decisions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawai, and Mozambique to model their decision making … [Read more...] about How do decision-makers use evidence in community health policy and financing decisions? A qualitative study and conceptual framework in four African countries.
Malawi
Quality assured COVID-19 Library of resources for community-based health workers
This database offers a variety of medically-reviewed educational materials regarding COVID-19. Visitors will find resources related to: emergency response, risk mitigation and community engagement, case finding, surveillance, public health prevention measures, infection prevention and control, lab testing, case management, and societal response. … [Read more...] about Quality assured COVID-19 Library of resources for community-based health workers
Increasing utilisation of perinatal services: estimating the impact of community health worker program in Neno, Malawi
To address the issue of high maternal mortality in Malawi, the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Communities intervention trained CHWs to conduct household visits to locate pregnant women and accompany them to perinatal care. Results indicate an 18% increase in antenatal care attendance, a 200% increase in antenatal care attendance in the first trimester and an increase of 37% in … [Read more...] about Increasing utilisation of perinatal services: estimating the impact of community health worker program in Neno, Malawi
Development assistance for community health workers in 114 low- and middle-income countries, 2007–2017
To grow and be sustained, CHW programs require funding. This study analyzed Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development data from 2007 to 2017 to evaluate investments in CHW programs. The results indicated that funds for CHW programs represent a small fraction of investments in public health development, and have reduced in recent years. The researchers called for … [Read more...] about Development assistance for community health workers in 114 low- and middle-income countries, 2007–2017
‘Do you trust those data?’—a mixed-methods study assessing the quality of data reported by community health workers in Kenya and Malawi
The results of this study indicate large gaps in data reporting with only 15% of data consistently reported by CHWs. Reasons for poor data quality included lack of data collection tools, inadequate training, insufficient supervision, and poor quality control monitoring, to name a few. The authors emphasized the importance of focusing on these issues to achieve accurate data … [Read more...] about ‘Do you trust those data?’—a mixed-methods study assessing the quality of data reported by community health workers in Kenya and Malawi