Cardiovascular disease contributes substantially to the non-communicable disease (NCD) burden in low- income and middle-income countries, which also often have substantial health personnel shortages. In this observational study we investigated whether community health workers could do community-based screenings to predict cardiovascular disease risk as effectively as could … [Read more...] about An assessment of community health workers’ ability to screen for cardiovascular disease risk with a simple, non-invasive risk assessment instrument in Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mexico, and South Africa: an observational study
South Africa
Detection of antenatal depression in rural HIV-affected populations with short and ultrashort versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Approaches that incorporate CHWs in the detection and management of perinatal mental disorders have shown potential, with research demonstrating the capacity of CHWs to deliver treatment for both HIV (Selke et al. 2010) and maternal depression (Rahman 2005; Rahman et al. 2008). However, actualizing this potential at a larger scale requires short, effective screening measures to … [Read more...] about Detection of antenatal depression in rural HIV-affected populations with short and ultrashort versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Lessons from case studies of integrating mental health into primary health care in South Africa and Uganda
Community level self-help groups in South Africa focused on CMDs, with CHWs using the training received to establish these groups. The majority were formed to assist HIV infected and affected women. (2011) … [Read more...] about Lessons from case studies of integrating mental health into primary health care in South Africa and Uganda
The Feasibility of Adapted Group-Based Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) for the Treatment of Depression by Community Health Workers Within the Context of Task Shifting in South Africa
Within the context of a large treatment gap for depression and a scarcity of specialist resources, there is a need for task shifting to scale up mental health services to address this gap in South Africa. This study assessed the feasibility of an adapted manualized version of grouped based Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) for use by supervised community health workers through a … [Read more...] about The Feasibility of Adapted Group-Based Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) for the Treatment of Depression by Community Health Workers Within the Context of Task Shifting in South Africa
How to save 3.6 million children each year? Invest in community health workers
The following is a Q&A between Julia Bluestone of Jhpiego and the Frontline Health Workers Coalition and Dr. Henry Perry of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on a recently released report examining community health workers’ effectiveness in saving lives and improving health. The post was originally published in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s … [Read more...] about How to save 3.6 million children each year? Invest in community health workers