CHW Central

A global resource for and about Community Health Workers

South Africa

Qualitative assessment of facilitators and barriers to HIV programme implementation by community health workers in Mopani district, South Africa

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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

Integrating community health workers into the formal health system to improve performance: a qualitative study on the role of on-site supervision in the South African programme

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This qualitative study compared the affects of two CHW supervision models – clinic-based supervision versus community-based supervision – on CHW team performance. It also examined CHW team performance when supervised by a senior nurse versus a junior nurse.   The study outlines some of the characteristics of effective supervision and finds that CHWs supervised in … [Read more...] about Integrating community health workers into the formal health system to improve performance: a qualitative study on the role of on-site supervision in the South African programme

Urban young women’s preferences for intervention strategies to promote physical and mental health preconception: a Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI)

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This study is a qualitative assessment of women’s preferences for preconception intervention strategies to promote physical and mental health in urban settings. The evaluation was carried out through focus group discussions in Soweto, South Africa. … [Read more...] about Urban young women’s preferences for intervention strategies to promote physical and mental health preconception: a Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI)

“Being seen” at the clinic: Zambian and South African health worker reflections on the relationship between health facility spatial organisation and items and HIV stigma in 21 health facilities, the HPTN 071 (PopART) study

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In this article, the authors assess the relationship between the spatial organization of healthcare services and the stigmatization of people living with HIV in Zambia and South Africa. CHWs were involved in collecting data and providing their own insights into how patients experience facility spaces.  … [Read more...] about “Being seen” at the clinic: Zambian and South African health worker reflections on the relationship between health facility spatial organisation and items and HIV stigma in 21 health facilities, the HPTN 071 (PopART) study

The Governance of National Community Health Worker Programmes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Empirically Based Framework of Governance Principles, Purposes and Tasks

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This article proposes a framework for the design and scale up of CHW program governance.  Drawing from  factual observations of South Africa’s community health system and theoretical insights on governance, the article frames key governance principles and outputs. … [Read more...] about The Governance of National Community Health Worker Programmes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Empirically Based Framework of Governance Principles, Purposes and Tasks