Results: 3410
Quality of clinical assessment and management of sick children by Health Extension Workers in four regions of Ethiopia: A cross-sectional survey (2020)
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 managementRead more…
Effect of home-based newborn care on neonatal and infant mortality: a cluster randomised trial in India (2020)
Neonatal mortality in rural areas can be reduced through home-based newborn care. Reeta Rasaily and colleagues examined the effectiveness of Shishu Rakshak (SR) and Anganwadi Workers (AWW) in India at reducing neonatal and infant mortality rates. Results indicated that risk of neonatal, early neonatal, young infant, and infant mortality decreasedRead more…
Evaluation of a novel community-based COVID-19 ‘Test-to-Care’ model for low-income populations (2020)
Andrew Kerkhoff and colleagues developed a “Test-to-Care” model to improve the ability of vulnerable populations to isolate and quarantine following a COVID-19 diagnosis. This model includes CHW-led education about COVID-19 and available community resources, ways to receive home deliveries to facilitate safe isolation, and long-term social support. The researchers evaluatedRead more…
Work environment factors and provider performance in health houses: a case study of a developing country (2020)
The way in which health facilities are built impacts the ability of CHWs to perform their roles as intended. Hasan Yusefzadeh and Bahram Nabilou evaluated characteristics of physical work environment factors in Urmia, Iran to understand their impacts on CHW performance. Technical and office equipment layout had the greatest impactsRead more…
Planetary health and the role of community health workers (2020)
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. TheRead more…
Methadone Maintenance Treatment Decentralization in Vietnam (2020)
Commune health centers were inaugurated in 2015 in Vietnam to provide methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for people experiencing both HIV and substance use disorders (SUDs). Diep Bich Nguyen evaluated challenges to provision of care experienced by CHWs working in commune health centers. Challenges often occurred as a result of stigmatizationRead more…
Using Community Health Workers and a Smartphone Application to Improve Diabetes Control in Rural Guatemala (2020)
CHWs in low- and middle-income countries frequently use mobile health (mHealth) technology to support diabetes management. Sean Duffy and colleagues evaluated whether or not mHealth applications could be used to provide CHWs with clinical decision support for primary diabetes management in Guatemala. Results indicated that CHWs effectively helped patients manageRead more…
How COVID-19 Has Affected Frontline Workers in Brazil: A Comparative Analysis of Nurses and Community Health Workers (2020)
Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline workers addressed emergency situations by applying their own discretion and utilizing whichever tools were available to support their goals. Gabriela Lotta and colleagues evaluated how decisions made by CHWs were influenced by the early stages of the pandemic between March and July in Brazil.Read more…
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 ARTRead more…
The origins of Ethiopia’s primary health care expansion: The politics of state building and health system strengthening (2020)
Ethiopia received recognition as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s models of primary care, due in part to training and deploying over 30,000 Health Extension Workers since 2004. Kevin Croke discusses factors enabling the country to implement the program at scale.
Should female community health volunteers (FCHVs) facilitate a response to gender-based violence (GBV)? A mixed methods exploratory study in Mangalsen, Nepal (2020)
Only one in five Nepali women seek care following gender-based violence (GBV). Myra Betron and colleagues evaluated whether female community health volunteers (fCHVs), with their trusted role in society, could improve care for these women. After attending a single day of training, fCHVs reported increased knowledge, attitudes, and confidence inRead more…
Task-sharing interventions for improving control of diabetes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2020)
Impacts of health system physician shortages in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be mitigated by assigning tasks that require limited specialized knowledge to non-physician healthcare workers, including CHWs. Joseph Maria and colleagues reviewed 46 research studies to understand how this so-called “task-sharing” is applied to manage type 2 diabetesRead more…
Factors influencing the performance of community health workers: A qualitative study of Anganwadi Workers from Bihar, India (2020)
Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) in India’s Child Development Services program represent the largest CHW cadre in the world, but factors influencing employee performance remain understudied. Aparna John and colleagues interviewed AWWs to understand factors driving their performance within the program. Results indicated that the most common constraints to performance included aRead more…
Innovative COVID-19 Programs to Rapidly Serve New Mexico: Project ECHO (2020)
The University of New Mexico created Project ECHO to enable telementoring between health experts and health care providers in isolated and underserved areas. Joanna Katzman evaluated the effectiveness of 10 Project ECHO programs designed to provide COVID-19-related mentoring in New Mexico, among which included a seven week program to connectRead more…
Evaluation of an Integrated Health Promotion Program for a low-income urban population: Findings and lessons learned (2020)
Chronic disease progression is driven in part by unhealthy eating habits, limited knowledge about healthy nutrition, and accessibility of healthy food sources. Linda Weiss and colleagues evaluated the impact of a CHW- and nurse-led program to provide nutrition education, cooking classes, weekly farm shares, and other health promotion services. ProgramRead more…
2020 COVID-19 Year In Review News Database (2020)
This database provides links to CHW- and COVID-related news articles curated by CHW Central during 2020. Each row contains the author name with a link, the date of publication, a description of the article, and topics with subtopics (where appropriate).
Community-based participatory design of a community health worker breast cancer training intervention for South Florida Latinx farmworkers (2020)
Communities with limited access to medical care benefit from CHW-led education for noncommunicable diseases such as breast cancer. Natalia Rodriguez recruited community members to help design a culturally-appropriate, CHW-led education for breast cancer awareness and screening among South Floridian Latinx farmworkers. Implementation of this program demonstrated effective dissemination, evaluation, andRead more…
Willingness to pay for community delivery of antiretroviral treatment in urban Tanzania: a cross-sectional survey (2020)
CHW-led antiretroviral therapy (ART) represents an opportunity to reduce the number of patients within healthcare facilities and expand universal coverage to remote areas. Pascal Geldsetzer and colleagues interviewed HIV patients in Tanzania to assess willingness to pay for CHW-led ART. Half of community members reported willingness to pay for CHW-ledRead more…
Understanding the importance of nonmaterial factors in retaining community health workers in low-income settings: a qualitative case-study in Ethiopia (2020)
Low- and middle-income countries sometimes experience challenges motivating and retaining CHWs. Nikita Arora and colleagues interviewed Ethiopian Health Extension Workers (HEW) to identify opportunities to improve retention policies. In addition to financial incentives, the researchers identified improvements in health facility infrastructure, provision of childcare, and community recognition as important contributorsRead more…
Community health workers impact on maternal and child health outcomes in rural South Africa – a non-randomized two-group comparison study (2020)
Maternal and child health outcomes improve with the implementation of CHW home-visiting in urban areas, but less is known about their effects in rural South Africa. Karl le Roux and colleagues compared a rural area with CHW to one without CHWs to determine the effectiveness of CHW home-visits on maternalRead more…
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