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
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
The supervisory relationships of community health workers in primary health care: social network analysis of ward-based outreach teams in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, South Africa
This study used social network analysis to examine supervisor-supervisee relationships. Direct supervisors of CHW teams and peer support are the strongest supervisory relationships. The study found that PHC staff and middle managers play a weaker role in CHW supervision. … [Read more...] about The supervisory relationships of community health workers in primary health care: social network analysis of ward-based outreach teams in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, South Africa
The cost of the training and supervision of community health workers to improve exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers in a cluster randomised controlled trial in South Africa
This study used a retrospective cost analysis to assess the effectiveness of a randomized control trial of CHW support for pregnant women and women with infants <1 year of age in South Africa. Exclusive breastfeeding and women’s knowledge of childcare practices improved significantly in intervention sites. This intervention cost $7,647.88 per additional mother practicing … [Read more...] about The cost of the training and supervision of community health workers to improve exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers in a cluster randomised controlled trial in South Africa
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