South Africa

Impact of lay health worker programmes on the health outcomes of mother-child pairs of HIV exposed children in Africa: A scoping review

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In countries with a heavy burden of HIV, the demand for healthcare services is often met with a dearth of health workers. This has led to a need for task shifting of lay health workers (LHWs) to improve healthcare delivery. This approach has been particularly successful in the case of maternal and childcare (MCH). This review examines the impact of LHWs in improving health … [Read more...] about Impact of lay health worker programmes on the health outcomes of mother-child pairs of HIV exposed children in Africa: A scoping review

Community health worker-delivered counselling for common mental disorders among chronic disease patients in South Africa: a feasibility study

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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

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)