CHWs in low-income countries often provide postnatal care services in areas with limited access to formal health care. Yemane Tesfau and colleagues evaluated service area coverage and provision of care by CHWs in Ethiopia to assess health system needs. Health extension workers visited 15% of mothers within three days after childbirth and 24% within 42 days. The researchers call … [Read more...] about Postnatal home visits by health extension workers in rural areas of Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study design
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Challenges and prospects for implementation of community health volunteers’ digital health solutions in Kenya: a qualitative study
Low-resource settings experience increased access to health interventions when they are able to adopt digital health technologies. Pauline Bakibinga and colleagues developed a mobile health app for Kenyan community health volunteers (CHVs) to digitize some of the forms used to collect data for local health facilities. Research evaluating the effectiveness of this program … [Read more...] about Challenges and prospects for implementation of community health volunteers’ digital health solutions in Kenya: a qualitative study
Quality of clinical assessment and management of sick children by Health Extension Workers in four regions of Ethiopia: A cross-sectional survey
Ethiopian primary health care usage for sick children is low, possibly due to poor perceptions about the quality of care in local settings. Dawit Wolde Daka and colleagues evaluated the quality of care among health extension workers for children under-five. Health extension workers failed to adhere to Community Case management guidelines with over 80% of sick children. … [Read more...] about Quality of clinical assessment and management of sick children by Health Extension Workers in four regions of Ethiopia: A cross-sectional survey
Planetary health and the role of community health workers
CHWs can play a significant role in mitigating the impacts of biodiversity loss, climate change, and global noncommunicable diseases on health by providing culturally-relevant education and behavioral interventions. Manas Behera and colleagues performed a review of the literature to understand how CHWs impact these factors on a global scale. The researchers identified four … [Read more...] about Planetary health and the role of community health workers
Contributions of the lay workers in providing home-based treatment adherence support to patients with advanced HIV/AIDS disease in low-income settings: Lessons learned from the field in Tanzania and Zambia
Provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Eastern and Southern Africa remains limited due to clinical staffing shortages. Godfather Kimaro and colleagues evaluated whether lay health workers in Tanzania and Zambia could reduce the burden of patients on hospital staffing. Results indicated that lay health workers were successful at identifying ART related side effects and … [Read more...] about Contributions of the lay workers in providing home-based treatment adherence support to patients with advanced HIV/AIDS disease in low-income settings: Lessons learned from the field in Tanzania and Zambia