Welcome to CHW Central
Welcome to CHW Central, an online resource for information and dialogue about Community Health Workers (CHW). CHWs play an important role in increasing access to health services in poor and underserved communities around the world. CHW Central supports community health workers and strengthens CHW programs by connecting experts, practitioners, and supporters in interactive discussion forums and sharing the latest developments in CHW research, practice, and policy.
Is the US Lagging Behind? Thoughts on Paul Farmer's Interview in the Daily Beast
How much can the U.S. learn from CHW programs in other countries? Are we focusing on the right targets with the right teams?
CHW Central is in the process of redesigning its website so that it is more user-friendly, engaging and responsive to our members. Our goal is to increase the dialogue between global and U.S.- based Community Health Worker programs. This article contributes to that exchange.
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan
Topics: Community health workers, HIV/AIDS, Human Resources/Workforce Development, Scaling up
Objective
To provide cost guidance for developing a locally adaptable and nationally scalable community health worker (CHW) system within primary-health-care systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
How can CHWs engage communities to improve heart health?
Cardiovascular disease (heart disease) is the leading cause of death around the world. It is responsible for 1 out of every 3 deaths in the United States. Minority racial and ethnic groups experience twice the rate of premature deaths from heart disease as their white counterparts. Heart disease can be prevented or managed with healthy lifestyle choices and other choices we make as communities. The challenge is getting that message to the community.
Creating an organizational approach to volunteer management
Volunteers are among the most important resources we have. CRS has developed a manual to help managers, planners, technical advisors and business development staff plan for, implement and support the integration of volunteers.
“I can’t believe we’ve just finished our volunteer training and now so many volunteers are leaving! They found a “better deal” at this other project that offers a bigger stipend. This is so frustrating.” (Patience Banda, Home-based Care Project Manager)
Seeking Examples of Collaborative Scale up of CHWs
Does anyone know of good country examples where the government, donors, implementers, and other actors collaborated to significantly scale up Community Health Workers? What were the key elements to the success of this collaboration? (e.g. a policy framework, a strong coordination mechanism, data sharing, strong national leadership, joint planning, etc.)
Sigrun Mogedal and I are working on a paper for the WHO Bulletin on creating synergies in investments for scaling up CHW programs. I can be reached at ktulenko@capacityplus.org
Thanks!
Kate Tulenko
Task-shifting to expert patients in HIV care
A Ugandan expert patient states, "I accepted my HIV+ status and wanted to help others cope with HIV and come out of stigma. I also wanted to help myself to prevent stress at home, wanted my children to know that being HIV+ is not the end of the world and learn how to live with HIV. I also wanted to help caretakers and the community with taking care of the sick." (2)
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan, Nigeria
Topics: Community case management of child illness, Community health workers, Diarrheal disease prevention and case management, Malaria case management, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Program management
The report is based on UNICEF's three country qualitative study to identify solutions to local barriers to care-seeking and treatment for diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia. The study had three main objectives:
Topics: CHW role, Community health workers, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Policy, Task shifting
The World Health Organization’s recommendations on optimizing the roles of health workers aim to help address critical health workforce shortages that slow down progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Topics: CHW role, Community health workers
Community Health Workers (CHWs) provide a critical and essential link with health systems and are a powerful force for promoting healthy behaviors in resource-constrained settings.
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan, Niger
Topics: Community case management of child illness, Community health workers, Diarrheal disease prevention and case management, Malaria case management, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Pneumonia case management, Program management
- 1. To access perceptions and experiences of childhood malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia and associated care-seeking and treatment (non-)uptake.
- 2. To determine the barriers and challenges intended beneficiaries face in accessing treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in children under five years.
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan, Kenya
Topics: Behavior change and communication, Community case management of child illness, Community health workers, Diarrheal disease prevention and case management, Malaria case management, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Pneumonia case management
This report is based on UNICEF's three country qualitative study to identify solutions to local barriers to care-seeking and treatment for diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia. The study had three main objectives:
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan
Topics: Community health workers, Malaria case management, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Referral systems, Scaling up, Service integration, Sustainability
New MNCH Working Paper from UNICEF and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine presenting a systematic review of CCM for malaria
UNICEF, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has just released a new MNCH Working Paper titled “A systematic review of strategies to increase demand, uptake and quality of community-based diagnosis and case management of malaria” by Lucy Smith Paintain, Barbara Willey, Alyssa Sharkey, Julia Kim, Valentina Buj, David Schellenberg & Ngashi Ngongo.
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan
Topics: Community involvement, Country ownership, Malaria, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Policy
Do we need a "Principles of Practice" for CHW programming?
There has been a resurgence of interest across the global health field in the use of CHWs to deliver essential health interventions at the community level, especially in countries with slow progress towards reaching the health MDGs. Many NGOs and agencies have prioritised the work of CHWs for improving health outcomes, but in most areas, and particularly those with weaker health governance, NGOs often operate CHW initiatives without strong and focused coordination of efforts.
Empowering CHWs, Engaging Communities
When implemented properly, volunteer community health worker (CHW) programs have helped achieve positive health outcomes by increasing the adoption of critical maternal and child health behaviors and practices. Yet, the success and sustainability of CHW programs is highly dependent upon understanding the social, cultural and institutional context in which they are implemented, and being creative and open to local design solutions.
Postpartum family planning (PPFP) demand generation and social and behavior change communication (SBCC): The role of CHWs
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan, India, Malawi, Senegal
Topics: Community health workers, Documentation/data collection, Equipment/supplies
The information challenges facing health workers worldwide include lack of routine systems for seeking and sharing information, lack of high-quality and current health information, and lack of locally relevant materials and tools. This article presents three studies of health information needs in India, Senegal, and Malawi that demonstrate these information challenges, provide additional insight, and describe innovative strategies to improve knowledge management and ensure health workers have the equipment and supplies they need.
Region and Country: Africa, Sub Saharan, Senegal
Topics: Community health workers, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Recruitment, Retention of health workers/reducing attrition
To meet Millennium Development Goal Five and the reproductive needs of all women, it is predicted that an additional 334,000 midwives are needed. Despite the ongoing efforts to increase this cadre of health workers there are still glaring gaps and inequities in distribution. In countries where there are too few health workers, deployment of midwives (including recruitment and retention) to rural postings is a continuing challenge.
Curricula Content for CHW Training
Dear Celia,
Do you or your members have any written curricula for CHW training that I could see?
Topics: Behavior change and communication, Community health workers, HIV/AIDS, Training
This guide, Developing Materials on HIV/AIDS/STIs for Low-Literate Audiences, produced by FHI360, provides a comprehensive methodology for developing training materials for low-literate audiences in the context of a strategic behavior change (SBC) program.
What's New
Attention! APHA Scholarship Opportunity for CHWs
Deadline to apply: June 3, 2013 Contact susan.johnson@usm.edu for an application form
Updated! Upcoming Meetings & Events
CommCare Workshop in Mumbai July 12-14, 2013. See application details
About CHW Central
CHW Central is an online community of practice focusing on CHW programs, research, and policy.
Learn about the site’s functions and how you can participate.
Partners
CHW Central is proud to have a number of partner organizations committed to strengthening Community Health Workers.
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Email: chwcentral@initiativesinc.comResources
Featured Resources:
For more on Dr. Farmer and his work with community health care:
Democracy Now! clip: Dr. Paul Farmer on community health in Rwanda
Links
Other websites and organizations that provide additional information on CHW programming, policy, and practices.
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