The Community Health Impact Coalition (chwimpact.org) harnesses the potential of CHWs to extend health services to poor and marginalized populations; there is an urgent need to better understand how CHW programs can be optimized. Rigorous evidence that CHW care delivery can improve access to care and reduce mortality continues to accumulate, but the most recent evaluations of … [Read more...] about Podcast: How can evidence optimize CHW programs?
Best practices
Facing a suicide crisis in his country, this African psychiatrist enlisted grandmothers to step in
In Zimbabwe Dixon Chibanda, a psychiatrist, created a space called “Friendship Benches” that sets aside medical and technical elements of mental healthcare and engages the community through “grandmothers” or local lay health workers. The grandmothers are trained in a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, but engage their patients in local language which helps reduce … [Read more...] about Facing a suicide crisis in his country, this African psychiatrist enlisted grandmothers to step in
A comprehensive description of three national community health worker programs and their contributions to maternal and child health and primary health care
This is an in-depth review of the effectiveness of CHW programs in Ethiopia, Brazil, and Nepal. The main objective of this report is to provide insight and examples of successful CHW programs for other countries that are looking to build and strengthen their own CHW programs, specifically in the maternal and child health field. … [Read more...] about A comprehensive description of three national community health worker programs and their contributions to maternal and child health and primary health care
Mobile Technology in Support of Frontline Health Workers
This report summarizes current data from over 140 FHW-supported mHealth projects from developing countries to describe the emergent trends and best practices in the use of mobile phones, tablets, and technical platforms by FHWs over the last decade, understand the key considerations in choosing the type pf phone and platform and associated programmatic costs, present the … [Read more...] about Mobile Technology in Support of Frontline Health Workers
The cost-effectiveness of close-to-community health programmes: What do we know and where are the gaps?
Critical shortages in the health workforce in many developing countries - specifically the number, skills and geographic distribution of health workers - pose a significant challenge to the achievement of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increasing attention has therefore been focused on the potential of community health workers (CHWs) to … [Read more...] about The cost-effectiveness of close-to-community health programmes: What do we know and where are the gaps?