What do community health workers have to say about their work, and how can this inform improved programme design? A case study with CHWs within Kenya

Authors: Martin Oliver, Anne Geniets, Niall Winters, Isabella Rega and Simon M. Mbae

Community health workers (CHWs) are used increasingly in the world to address shortages of health workers and the lack of a pervasive national health system. However, while their role is often described at a policy level, it is not clear how these ideals are instantiated in practice, how best to support this work, or how the work is interpreted by local actors. CHWs are often spoken about or spoken for, but there is little evidence of CHWs’ own characterisation of their practice, which raises questions for global health advocates regarding power and participation in CHW programmes. This paper addresses this issue.