Breast cancer screening continues to be underutilized by the population in general, but is particularly underutilized by traditionally underserved minority populations. Two of the most at risk female minority groups are American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) and Latinas. American Indian women have the poorest recorded 5-year cancer survival rates of any ethnic group while … [Read more...] about Engaging diverse underserved communities to bridge the mammography divide
Gender
Pakistan’s Lady Health Worker Programme
This case study describes the rationale, implementation strategies, achievements and challenges of a programme that created a new cadre of female health workers in the Pakistan health system to address unmet health needs of rural populations and slum dwellers. An external evaluation of the programme in 2000 found that the population served by Lady Health Workers had … [Read more...] about Pakistan’s Lady Health Worker Programme
Developing lay health worker policy in South Africa: a qualitative study
Over the past half decade South Africa has been developing, implementing and redeveloping its Lay Health Worker (LHW) policies. Research during this period has highlighted challenges with LHW programme implementation. These challenges have included an increased burden of care for female LHWs. The aim of this study was to explore contemporary LHW policy development processes and … [Read more...] about Developing lay health worker policy in South Africa: a qualitative study
Retention of female volunteer community health workers in Dhaka urban slums: a case-control study
Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are one approach to addressing the health workforce shortage in developing countries. BRAC, a large NGO in Bangladesh, is a pioneer in using female volunteer CHWs as core workers in its successful health programmes. After 25 years of implementing the CHW model in rural areas, BRAC is now using CHWs in urban slums of Dhaka through … [Read more...] about Retention of female volunteer community health workers in Dhaka urban slums: a case-control study
Strategies to improve the performance of female health workers in West Bengal: A cross-sectional survey
This article examines the workload and determinants of good performance of female health workers in 2 districts of West Bengal, India. Results indicated that female health workers spent excessive time in documentation which left less time for service delivery. Infrastructure, planning and supervision affected performance and these areas must be strengthened to improve primary … [Read more...] about Strategies to improve the performance of female health workers in West Bengal: A cross-sectional survey