Community health workers (CHWs) are up-front health workers delivering the most effective life-saving health services to communities. They are the key driver to achieve Universal Health Coverage. However, maintaining CHWs’ performance is one of the challenges in sustaining their effectiveness. This article assessed the effectiveness of the four interventions and their combinations on the CHWs’ performance in terms of health knowledge, job satisfaction, and household coverage.

We used the longitudinal survey data collected in western Kenya. Our study participants were the representative of all CHWs working in the four districts, Kenya. The four types of interventions were composed of a basic core intervention (i.e., refresher training with/without defaulter tracing) and three supplementary interventions (i.e., provision of a bicycle, frequent supportive supervision, and financial incentives). We performed the three fixed-effect models to assess the effectiveness of the four interventions and their combinations on the three performance indicators.

Three single and combination interventions significantly increased CHWs’ health knowledge: refresher training only [Coef.: 48.43, 95% CI: 42.09–54.76, P < 0.001]; refresher training plus defaulter-tracing [Coef.: 38.80, 95% CI: 32.71–44.90, P < 0.001]; combination of refresher training plus defaulter-tracing and frequent supervision [Coef.: 17.02, 95% CI: 7.90–26.15, P < 0.001]. Financial support was the only intervention that significantly increased job satisfaction among CHWs [Coef.: 4.97, 95% CI: 0.20–9.75, P = 0.041]. There was no single intervention that significantly increased household coverage. Yet, the combinations of the interventions significantly increased household coverage.

There was no single intervention to improve all the aspects of CHWs’ performance. The refresher training significantly improved their health knowledge, while financial incentive enhanced the level of their job satisfaction. The combinations of regular refresher training and other intervention(s) are the recommended as the effective interventions in improving and further sustaining CHWs’ performance.

BRAC, an international development organization based in Bangladesh, engages community health workers called Shasthya Shebikas (SS) to implement home fortification of foods with micronutrient powders (MNP). We identified factors associated with home visits by SS, at different levels of the BRAC programme-delivery hierarchy, to implement home-fortification interventions.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey, semi-structured interviews, and collected programme-related data from sub-districts included in the caregiver survey of BRAC’s home-fortification programme and performed multilevel logistic regression modelling to investigate factors associated with home visits by SS.

Sixty-eight sub-districts in Bangladesh.

Caregivers of children aged 6–59 months (n 1408) and BRAC’s SS (n 201).

Households with older children (0·55; 0·42, 0·72; P < 0·001) and located >300 m from the SS’s house (0·67; 0·50, 0·89; P = 0·006) were less likely to have been visited by the SS, whereas those with caregivers who had ≥5 years of schooling (1·53; 1·10, 2·12; P = 0·011) were more likely to have been visited by the SS (adjusted OR; 95 % CI). Households in the catchment area of older SS aged >50 years (0·44; 0·21, 0·90; P = 0·025) were less likely to have been visited by the SS, whereas those with SS who received incentives of >800 BDT (3·00; 1·58, 5·58; P = 0·001) were more likely to have been visited by the SS (adjusted OR; 95 % CI).

The number of home visits is a function of the characteristics of SS, factors that characterize the households they serve and characteristics of their organizational context, particularly to implement home fortification of foods with MNP.

The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention, ¡Vivir Mi Vida! (Live My Life!). This intervention was designed to improve the health and well-being of high risk late middle-aged Latino adults and to be implemented in a rural primary care system.

Rural-dwelling Latino adults experience higher rates of chronic disease compared with their urban counterparts, a disparity exacerbated by limited access to healthcare services. Very few lifestyle interventions exist that are both culturally sensitive and compatible for delivery within a non-metropolitan primary care context.

Participants were 37 Latino, Spanish-speaking adults aged 50–64-years-old, recruited from a rural health clinic in the Antelope Valley of California. ¡Vivir Mi Vida! was delivered by a community health worker-occupational therapy team over a 16-week period. Subjective health, lifestyle factors, and cardiometabolic measures were collected pre- and post-intervention. Follow-up interviews and focus groups were held to collect information related to the subjective experiences of key stakeholders and participants.

Participants demonstrated improvements in systolic blood pressure, sodium and saturated fat intake, and numerous patient-centered outcomes ranging from increased well-being to reduced stress. Although participants were extremely satisfied with the program, stakeholders identified a number of implementation challenges. The findings suggest that a tailored lifestyle intervention led by community health workers and occupational therapists is feasible to implement in a primary care setting and can improve health outcomes in rural-dwelling, late middle-aged Latinos.

The Nepal earthquake of 2015 was a major disaster that exacted an enormous toll on human lives and caused extensive damage to the infrastructure of the region. Similar to other developing countries, Nepal has a network of community health workers (CHWs; known as female community health volunteers [FCHVs]) that was in place prior to the earthquake and continues to function to improve maternal and child health. These FCHVs and other community members were responsible, by default, for providing the first wave of assistance after the earthquake.

Community health workers such as FCHVs could be used to provide formal relief services in the event of an emergency, but there is a paucity of evidence-based literature on how to best utilize them in disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and response. Data are needed to further characterize the roles that this cadre has played in past disasters and what strategies can be implemented to better incorporate them into future emergency management.

In March 2016, key-informant interviews, FCHV interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in Nepali health facilities using semi-structured guides. The audio-recorded data were obtained with the assistance of a translator (Nepali-English), transcribed verbatim in English, and coded by two independent researchers (manually and with NVivo 11 Pro software [QSR International; Melbourne, Australia]).

Across seven different regions, 14 interviews with FCHVs, two FGDs with community women, and three key-informant interviews were conducted. Four major themes emerged around the topic of FCHVs and the 2015 earthquake: (1) community care and rapport between FCHVs and local residents; (2) emergency response of FCHVs in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake; (3) training requested to improve the FCHVs’ ability to manage disasters; and (4) interaction with relief organizations and how to create collaborations that provide aid relief more effectively.

The FCHVs in Nepal provided multiple services to their communities in the aftermath of the earthquake, largely without any specific training or instruction. Proper preparation, in addition to improved collaboration with aid agencies, could increase the capacity of FCHVs to respond in the event of a future disaster. The information gained from this study of the FCHV experience in the Nepal earthquake could be used to inform risk reduction and emergency management policies for CHWs in various settings worldwide.

Fredricks K , Dinh H , Kusi M , Yogal C , Karmacharya BM , Burke TF , Nelson BD . Community Health Workers and Disasters: Lessons Learned from the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(6):604–609.

Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Allied health workers are often on the front lines of caring for trauma patients; this is the case in South Sudan, where a system of community health workers (CHWs) and clinical officers (COs) form an essential part of the health care structure. However, curricula for these workers vary, and it is unclear how much these training programs include trauma education.

The CHW training curriculum in South Sudan was reviewed to evaluate the degree to which it incorporates trauma education, according to established guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first formal comparison of a CHW curriculum with established WHO trauma guidelines.

The curriculum incorporated a number of essential components of the WHO guidelines; however, the concepts taught were limited in scope. The curriculum only covered about 50% of the content required for basic providers, with major deficiencies being in the management of head and spinal injuries, safety protocols for health care personnel, and in the management of pediatric patients.

The CHW training curriculum lacks the requisite content to provide adequately a basic level of trauma care and requires amending to ensure that all South Sudan citizens receive appropriate treatment. It is recommended that other LMICs review their existing training curricula in order to improve their ability to provide adequate trauma care and to ensure they meet the basic WHO guidelines.

OgunniyiA , ClarkM , DonaldsonR . Analysis of Trauma Care Education in the South Sudan Community Health Worker Training Curriculum. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015; 30(2): 1 8

The goal of an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system is to prevent needless death or disability from time-sensitive disease processes. Despite growing evidence that these processes contribute significantly to mortality in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), there has been little focus on the development of EMS systems in poor countries.

The objective of this study was to understand the utilization pattern of a newly-implemented EMS system in Ruhiira, Uganda.

An EMS system based on community priorities was implemented in rural Uganda in 2009. Six months of ambulance logs were reviewed. Patient, transfer, and clinical data were extracted and analyzed.

In total, 207 cases were reviewed. Out of all transfers, 66% were for chief complaints that were obstetric related, while 12% were related to malaria. Out of all activations, 77.8% were for female patients. Among men, 34% and 28% were related to malaria and trauma, respectively. The majority of emergency transfers were from district to regional hospitals, including 52% of all obstetric transfers, 65% of malaria transfers, and 62% of all trauma transfers. There was no significant difference in the call to arrival on scene time, the time to scene or the scene to treatment time during the day and night (P > .05). Cost-benefit analysis revealed a cost of $89.95 per life saved with an estimated $0.93/capita to establish the system and $0.09/capita/year to maintain the system.

Contrary to current belief, EMS systems in rural Africa can be affordable and highly utilized, particularly for life-threatening, nontrauma complaints. Construction of a simple but effective EMS system is feasible, acceptable, and an essential component to the primary health care system of LMICs.

Stewart De RamirezS , DollJ , CarleS , AnestT , AriiM , HsiehYH , OkongoM , MoreskyR , SachsSE , MillinM . Emergency Response in Resource-poor Settings: A Review of a Newly-implemented EMS System in Rural Uganda. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(3):1-6.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a key role in the functioning of Primary Health Care. However, little research on the performance of CHWs has been conducted in Kenya. This study aims to describe their performance and to determine which factors most impacted the performance of CHWs in Kenya.

A total of 750 CHWs were identified as potential subjects. However, appropriate data were submitted by 172 CHWs because of rejection and loss of their reporting status. Data on CHWs were collected through questionnaires, and information about their performance was gathered from their supervisors.

Approximately 60% of the CHWs were active. CHWs over 40 years of age were likely to display good performance in their job (P < 0.001). In addition, the performance of CHWs was influenced by training partners (P < 0.03).

Older CHWs were likely to perform well. Furthermore, their performance was influenced by their training partners.