The question of remuneration for community health workers (CHWs) in low--‐income countries remains contentious. Programs use a variety of monetary and non--‐monetary incentives to motivate CHWs. The most successful programs, however, pay their workers, and there is little evidence to suggest that volunteerism in low--‐income countries is sustainable over the long … [Read more...] about Remuneration for Community Health Workers: Recommendations to the World Health Organization
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
It’s not Ebola…it’s the systems
The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa demonstrates key deficiencies in investment in health systems. Despite some modest investment in health systems, our field has instead largely chosen to pursue shorter-term, vertical efforts to more rapidly address key global health issues such as smallpox, polio, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. While those efforts have yielded … [Read more...] about It’s not Ebola…it’s the systems
A Community Health Worker “logic model”: towards a theory of enhanced performance in low- and middle-income countries
The purpose of this paper is to promote early and continuous causal thinking as decision makers design, implement, scale up, and evaluate CHW and other programs that are intended to positively affect the public’s health. The methods section describes how the generic CHW logic model was constructed, drawing explicitly on research … [Read more...] about A Community Health Worker “logic model”: towards a theory of enhanced performance in low- and middle-income countries
Taking knowledge for health the extra mile: participatory evaluation of a mobile phone intervention for community health workers in Malawi
In Malawi, where the majority of the population resides in rural areas, community health workers (CHWs) are the first, and often only, providers of health services. An assessment of health information needs, however, found that these frontline workers often lacked essential health information. A pilot project, implemented in 2 rural districts of Malawi between 2010 and 2011, … [Read more...] about Taking knowledge for health the extra mile: participatory evaluation of a mobile phone intervention for community health workers in Malawi
A Commitment to Community Health Workers: Improving Data for Decision Making
In a new policy report, the Frontline Health Workers Coalition and partners call for human resources for health (HRH) stakeholders to create a common definition for the “community health worker” along with an agreed-upon set of core tasks and competencies, using the International Labour Organization definition as a guiding framework. To enhance the quality and … [Read more...] about A Commitment to Community Health Workers: Improving Data for Decision Making