South Africa implemented a primary health care reform initiative in 2012 to increase universal health coverage by implementing ward-based primary health care outreach teams (WBPHCOTs) relying primarily on the support of CHWs. Gladys Kigozi and colleagues developed a survey to measure CHW motivation to participate in these WBPHCOTs in the Mangaung Metropolitan District, Free … [Read more...] about Community health worker motivation to perform systematic household contact tuberculosis investigation in a high burden metropolitan district in South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Can people-centered community-oriented interventions improve skilled birth attendance? Evidence from a quasi-experimental study in rural communities of Cambodia, Kenya, and Zambia
Skilled birth attendance provided by CHWs increases access to culturally relevant treatment support, home-based care, and antenatal care. One way to strengthen CHW systems and subsequent provision of care relies on community scorecards to improve health service utilization. Anbrasi Edward and colleagues evaluated the effects of combined use of community scorecards and CHW … [Read more...] about Can people-centered community-oriented interventions improve skilled birth attendance? Evidence from a quasi-experimental study in rural communities of Cambodia, Kenya, and Zambia
Household coverage, quality and costs of care provided by community health worker teams and the determining factors: findings from a mixed methods study in South Africa
Insufficient supervision prevents CHWs from realizing their potential to achieve universal health coverage. Jane Goudge and colleagues evaluated the impacts of various configurations of supervisors on CHW coverage, quality of care, and costs of service provision in Sedibeng, South Africa. CHWs visited 17% of households in the last year, conducting one-to-two visits per day and … [Read more...] about Household coverage, quality and costs of care provided by community health worker teams and the determining factors: findings from a mixed methods study in South Africa
Beyond the Rhetoric of Equity: Will the Frontline Healthcare Workers Who Serve the Poor Be Prioritized for the COVID Vaccine?
An international coalition of organizations representing 80 countries set an aggressive goal of making 2 billion Covid-19 vaccinations available by the end of 2021. Populations prioritized to receive vaccination include high risk and vulnerable persons and frontline healthcare workers. The definition of “frontline healthcare worker”, however, remains ambiguous and is likely to … [Read more...] about Beyond the Rhetoric of Equity: Will the Frontline Healthcare Workers Who Serve the Poor Be Prioritized for the COVID Vaccine?
Evaluating fidelity of community health worker roles in malaria prevention and control programs in Livingstone District, Zambia-A bottleneck analysis
CHWs demonstrate strong ability to improve the reach of community-based malaria interventions and reduce malaria incidence, but cases of malaria in Zambia are on the rise. Helen Mwiinga Chipukuma and colleagues wanted to know if rising cases has to do with whether or not CHWs in Livingstone, Zambia perform their roles effectively. They surveyed local CHWs to get a snapshot of … [Read more...] about Evaluating fidelity of community health worker roles in malaria prevention and control programs in Livingstone District, Zambia-A bottleneck analysis