Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

A Self-Management Training Intervention: Perceptions and Practices of Community Health Workers in South Africa

Community health workers (CHWs) are being used increasingly world over as a strategy to improve access to healthcare, particularly in rural communities. However, interventions targeted as improving their skill set and bringing about health behavior change are essential. This article presents findings from systematic, in-depth interviews conducted with CHWs in South Africa to … [Read more...] about A Self-Management Training Intervention: Perceptions and Practices of Community Health Workers in South Africa

Community engagement is considered to be a valuable strategy to improving health systems. However, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of this approach. This study focused on operations research of a community-based health information system (PCBHIS). The development and implementation of the PCBHIS was assessed in slum communities. … [Read more...] about Piloting a participatory, community-based health information system for strengthening community-based health services: findings of a cluster-randomized controlled trial in the slums of Freetown, Sierra Leone

This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of two approaches of community health worker (CHW)-delivered mental health counselling for patients with chronic diseases. The ‘designated’ approach involved CHWs providing counselling in addition to their regular duties while the ‘dedicated’ approach involved the CHWs taking sole responsibility of delivering mental health … [Read more...] about Community health worker-delivered counselling for common mental disorders among chronic disease patients in South Africa: a feasibility study

South Africa has implemented a community-based HIV programme (CBHP) as part of its strategy to re-engineer its primary healthcare (PHC) delivery systems. This article consists of insights gathered from focus group discussions with community health workers (CHWs) and PHC nurses in order to understand the barriers and facilitating factors related to successful implementation of … [Read more...] about Qualitative assessment of facilitators and barriers to HIV programme implementation by community health workers in Mopani district, South Africa

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) constitute a large portion of the disease burden in poor and disenfranchised populations in sub-Saharan Africa. This article looked to combine recent relevant literature on the impact of nurses and community health workers on managing NTDs. … [Read more...] about The Role of Nurses and Community Health Workers in Confronting Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review