Webinar- Enhancing Community Health Research By Engaging Community Health Workers as Research Partners

February 16, 2021

Watch the webinar here

Abstract: Health systems research  informs community engagement, public health practice, and patient centered primary health care interventions; yet more often than not, it is designed, managed and published without the participation of the people it is intended to serve. There is increasing attention to the role community health workers (CHWs) can play in community health research and in improving its quality and uptake. This webinar will present experiences and research findings on the role of CHWs as research partners. Sharing evidence from North American and African contexts, it outlines the ways CHWs have been involved in research. It will address the benefits of CHW participation in health systems research, but also discuss potential pitfalls. It will provide participants with case examples and recommendations for engaging CHWs as co-investigators and research partners.
Join us for three presentations followed by a robust Q&A.

Moderator: Floribella Redondo-Martinez, CHW, BS, Co-Founder & Executive Director Arizona Community Health Worker Association (AZCHOW)

Title: CHWs on Health Intervention Research Teams

Kiera Coulter and Maia Ingram will start the webinar by providing an overview of the results of a scoping review on health intervention research involving CHWs in the U.S. between 2008 and 2018.  The presentation will summarize the types of health intervention research involving CHWs, CHWs’ roles in implementing health intervention research, and how their involvement benefits health intervention research. This presentation will also discuss the positionality of CHWs on research teams and how CHW engagement improves the community benefit of research.  [15 minutes]

After this synthesis of what is known about the engagement of CHWs in research in the United States, which will provide lessons for research across the globe, two case studies will be presented from Africa.

Title:  Engaging CHWs in designing, delivering and evaluating a supervision programme

Dr James O’Donovan, researcher at the University of Oxford, and Rebecca Hamala and Allan Namanda, CHW supervisors from Mukono District, Uganda, will share their experiences with designing, delivering and evaluating a blended supervision programme for CHWs. This CBPR intervention focused on training and supervising CHWs in the recognition and management of ear and hearing disorders between 2018-2019 and engaged CHWs in all phases of the study. In a dialogue between James, Rebecca and Allan, webinar participants will learn more about how the use of photovoice helped to inform the design and evaluation of the CBPR programme.

Title: CHWs as co-researchers to understand health service delivery for people affected by severe stigmatising skin diseases in Liberia.

Hannah Berrian, researcher at UL-PIRE and Satta S. Kollie, a Community Health Surveillance Supervisor CHW from Lofa County, Liberia, will talk about a research project aiming to reduce severe stigmatising skin diseases. This study takes a person-centred approach to health systems and this means prioritising involvement of people with SSSDs, their families and primary health providers, including CHWs in shaping research design, implementation and utilisation.  CHWs are involved in the co-production of data, including data collection through use of photovoice and other participatory methods with other CHWs, traditional and faith healers. The study uses person-centred approaches to improve the equity and effectiveness of services for people with SSSDs, including  looking at aspects of human resource management and strengthening connections between formal and informal services. In a dialogue between Hannah and Satta, webinar participants will learn more about Satta’s experience as a co-researcher exploring their role providing care for SSSD patients.

Discussion, audience Q&A: The webinar will close with a summary by the chair on lessons learned. All participants will be asked to provide input into an inventory of CBPR projects, so that further learning can be facilitated through the Health Systems Global thematic working groups on CHWs and Social Science Approaches for Research and Engagement in Health Policy and Systems (SHAPES).

Connect with us! 
@CHWcentral on Twitter/ CHW Central on LinkedIn for more details.

Presented by the Health Systems Global Thematic Working Group on Community Health Workers, Social Science Approaches for Research and Engagement in Health Policy and Systems (SHAPES) and CHW Central.