Community Health Workers
During 2010, HIFA2015 is focusing on the information and learning needs of community health workers, and we shall continue to address these issues right through to 2015. See: HIFA 2010 Challenge: Community health workers
Overview
‘The umbrella term ‘Community Health Worker’ embraces a variety of community health aides selected, trained and working in the communities from which they come’ (WHO 2007) Here we use the term as defined by Lewin et al 2005: ‘Any health worker carrying out functions related to health care delivery; trained in some way in the context of the intervention; and having no formal professional or paraprofessional certificated or degreed tertiary education.’ CHWs may be men or women, young or old, literate or illiterate.
NEW!! - What HIFA2015 members say
Quotes from the literature
‘CHWs are critical in efforts to tackle the existing health worker crisis. However, they need support, supervision and financial and non-financial incentives if they are to carry out their work effectively…. CHWs should be recognised both internationionally and nationally as a distinct cadre of health professionals, who - by the nature of their position in the community, can access disadvantaged populations well beyond the reach of the health system.’
Sarah Hall, AMREF, 2008
‘The basic principle of empowering families, or empowering village based workers to save the lives of newborns, is a principle that can be applied across the world.’
Gary Darmstadt, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010
‘Community-based approaches to managing childhood pneumonia have proven successful; but expanding this approach has been met with resistance. Concerns have been raised about lower-level health workers, such as community health workers, administering antibiotics to children with pneumonia, and with fears that these activities could exacerbate antibiotic resistance. But community health workers can appropriately administer antibiotics consistent with guidelines.’
Wardlaw T et al 2006
‘To our knowledge, this is the first study that has explored how community-level health workers see their own performance… Providing appropriate and implementable health information to rural households has been the cornerstone of the programme’s health promotion strategy… Appropriate knowledge and communication skills of the workers are key to their confidence and elementary for the success of the system.’
Haq Z & Hafeez A 2009
References
Hall S. Community health workers in Africa. Health Systems Reporter. 2008
Wardlaw T et al. Pneumonia: the leading killer of children. Lancet 2006;368:1048-50 (free access)
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to the members of the HIFA Challenge Working Group and to all HIFA2015 members.
