CHWs connect the communities in which they live and the health systems in which they are immersed. Marta Schaaf and her colleagues identified the three main roles of CHWs in bridging this gap: the service extender (bringing medical services to the people), the cultural broker (interpreting medical services for the people), and the social change agent (helping address contexts … [Read more...] about The community health worker as service extender, cultural broker and social change agent: A critical interpretive synthesis of roles, intent, an accountability
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Financing Alliance for Health Country Case Study: Zambia
Financing Alliance for Health has produced a series of country case studies providing robust information on community health system profiles, taking a financing lens. Each case study includes insights on community health system context, structure and lessons on financing. Zambia’s Ministry of Health in 2007 synthesized evidence based practices from Ethiopia and Malawi to … [Read more...] about Financing Alliance for Health Country Case Study: Zambia
Strengthening Primary Health Care through Community Health Workers: Closing the $2 Billion Gap
This report strengthens the knowledge base around the need for community health financing and draws lessons from two unique examples—Zambia and Ethiopia—on financing pathways to secure additional resources. … [Read more...] about Strengthening Primary Health Care through Community Health Workers: Closing the $2 Billion Gap
A monitoring and evaluation gap for WHO’s community health worker guidelines, Botswana
A 2018 literature review conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that CHWs are effective at improving population health across countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Americas. Based on their results, the WHO developed guidelines to ensure CHWs perform their roles effectively. Stephanie Watson-Grant and co-authors reported on a comparative … [Read more...] about A monitoring and evaluation gap for WHO’s community health worker guidelines, Botswana
Impact of mobile health-enhanced supportive supervision and supply chain management on appropriate integrated community case management of malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in children 2-59 months: A cluster randomized trial in Eastern Province, Zambia
Poor supply chain management and a lack of supportive supervision represent challenges to successful treatment of childhood illnesses like diarrhoea, malaria, and pneumonia. Godfrey Biemba and his team wanted to know whether a mobile health (mHealth) system could help CHWs monitor medical stock and improve the quality of supervision and mentoring of CHWs. Results indicated that … [Read more...] about Impact of mobile health-enhanced supportive supervision and supply chain management on appropriate integrated community case management of malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in children 2-59 months: A cluster randomized trial in Eastern Province, Zambia