Because community health workers (CHWs) are key to achieving health equity, governments and CHW program managers are interested in effective ways to scale up CHW programs. Experts developed a framework based off of CHW program scale-up efforts across 7 countries and found that successful scaling of CHW programs was dependent on iterative learning and public health solutions … [Read more...] about The Community Health Systems Reform Cycle: Strengthening the Integration of Community Health Worker Programs Through an Institutional Reform Perspective
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
Brazil’s Community Health Workers Practicing Narrative Medicine: Patients’ Perspectives
Narrative medicine allows healthcare professionals to establish meaningful bonds with their patients through sharing lived experiences. Researchers in Brazil conducted a study to understand how CHWs utilize narrative medicine. The authors found that in using narrative medicine, CHWs were able to exercise compassion, empathy, and attentiveness with their patients. While this is … [Read more...] about Brazil’s Community Health Workers Practicing Narrative Medicine: Patients’ Perspectives
Evaluating Vertical Malaria Community Health Worker Programs as Malaria Declines: Learning From Program Evaluations in Honduras and Lao PDR
Community health workers are essential for providing malaria-related healthcare services in both the Greater Mekong Subregion and Central America. This mixed-method study evaluated CHW programs in Laos and Honduras to further understand the vertical organization of CHW-delivered malaria services. To maintain the near-zero malaria incidence rate achieved in 2019 in both … [Read more...] about Evaluating Vertical Malaria Community Health Worker Programs as Malaria Declines: Learning From Program Evaluations in Honduras and Lao PDR
Measuring client trust in community health workers: A multi-country validation study
Community trust is essential to increasing access and providing quality healthcare. A study was conducted in Haiti, Kenya, and Bangladesh to develop a quantitative scale that measures this significant factor and its effect on the impact of healthcare systems and programs. The resulting Trust in CHWs scale is a validated measure that can inform enhancements to and development of … [Read more...] about Measuring client trust in community health workers: A multi-country validation study
Compensation models for community health workers: Comparison of legal frameworks across five countries
Despite their vital function in keeping communities healthy and safe, community health worker (CHW) pay has long been a subject to global debate. This study maps the legal environment for CHW compensation in Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. Ultimately, having a strong legal framework does not guarantee proper compensation for CHWs, but it is an important first … [Read more...] about Compensation models for community health workers: Comparison of legal frameworks across five countries
