Authors: Thomas Druetz, Kadidiatou Kadio, Slim Haddad, Seni Kouanda, Valery Ridde
The use of community health workers to administer prompt treatments is gaining popularity in most sub-Saharan African countries. Their performance is a key challenge because it varies considerably, depending on the context, while being closely associated with the effectiveness of case management strategies. What determines community health workers’ performance is still under debate. Based on a realist perspective, a systematic review recently hypothesized that several mechanisms are associated with good performance and successful community interventions.
In order to empirically investigate this hypothesis and confront it with the reality, the authors conducted a study in Burkina Faso, where in 2010 health authorities have implemented a national program introducing community case management of malaria. The objective was to assess the presence of the mechanisms in community health workers, and explore the influence of contextual factors. In 2012, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 35 community health workers from a study area established in two similar health districts (Kaya and Zorgho).
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Resource Topic: Community Case Management, Community Health Workers/Volunteers, Malaria, Performance management
Resource Type: Research
Year: 2015
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Country: Burkina Faso
Publisher May Restrict Access: No
