CHWs are trained public health workers who serve as a bridge between communities, health care systems, and state health departments.
Resources on this page include:
Online courses, lessons learned, and best practices to help state health departments train and further build capacity for CHWs in th...eir communities.
Training and education materials for CHWs to use within their communities.
accessed 23.07.2021
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Tackling COVID-19 misinformation. Ensuring communities have access to lifesaving public health information from trusted sources and are not misled by misinformation is essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an effort to empower doctors and nurses – some of the most effective and trusted... messengers of public health information – to actively address COVID-19 misinformation and build vaccine confidence globally, the WHO welcomes this social media toolkit for healthcare practitioners, developed by the Government of the United Kingdom.
This toolkit aims to provide healthcare workers with the tools, skills and content needed to effectively share authentic and reliable information online. Centered around three core vaccine confidence messages, Vaccine Safety, Vaccine Development and Vaccine Reducing Risk of Sickness; this toolkit sets out three approaches: creating your own posts, posting the images and videos provided in the toolkit, or resharing vaccine information from trusted sources.
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Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health services, community health workers teams provide ho...usehold and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap.
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Over long periods of time, individuals and communities can adapt to their local climates. When both warmer and colder temperatures go above or below those norms rapidly, scientific evidence shows that people become vulnerable to associated health effects related to those extremes. Studies suggest th...at climate change will greatly increase the severity and frequency of extreme temperature conditions, leading to increases in temperature-related illness and death
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Snakebite envenoming constitutes a serious medical condition that primarily affects residents of rural communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and New Guinea. It is an occupational, environmental, and domestic health hazard that exacerbates the already impoverished state of these communities. Co...nservative estimates indicate that, worldwide, more than 5 million people suffer snakebite every year, leading to 25,000–125,000 deaths, while an estimated 400,000 people are left with permanent disabilities.
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A book of rehabilitation menus from 23 countries developed by World Vision staff and the communities they work in, using locally available, low-cost, nutrient-dense ingredients. Many times, you will find included in the recipes neglected underutilised indigenous foods that are contextual to the area.... The menus included in this book were successfully used in a food-based rehabilitation and behaviour change approach called, "Positive Deviance/Hearth (PDH)" programme to rehabilitate undernourished children and prevent malnutrition within the communities where they were designed.
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Mental health problems are common and cause great suffering to individuals and communities around the world. They have a significant impact not only on the physical and mental health of those affected but also on their families and the communities they live in. At the same time, all communities have... their own traditional mechanisms for support and contain a range wide of resources that can be helpful in preventing mental health conditions from developing, promoting positive mental health and supporting the recovery of people that are struggling with a mental health condition.
In the wider context, people living with a mental health condition are often excluded from their communities and experience various violations to their basic human rights (discrimination, violence, exclusion from employment opportunities). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the mean prevalence of global mental health disorders is 10.8% while the prevalence in emergency settings is 22.1% in any conflict-affected population.
During emergencies and crisis, the stigma, exclusion and discrimination towards people living with mental health conditions is often higher, which can cause isolation and protection issues. Communities can play a crucial role in promoting mental health as well as enhancing primary care and access. Their role is to help reduce mental health inequalities by providing community resources that connect people to community-based resources and by providing mental health education. This also helps to reduce the massive mental health treatment gap.
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All health workers would benefit from gaining knowledge and skills to protect individuals and communities from air pollution exposure. This course examines the main health impacts of air pollution and which roles health workers can play to protect and promote people’s health.
Disability inclusive shelter programming enables persons with disabilities to contribute more to their communities, participate more in consultations and decision-making, and facilitate their own protection. The key concepts include: Disability inclusive shelter programming is both a process and an ...outcome. By engaging persons with disabilities in the process, we will also improve the outcomes for persons with disabilities.
The disability community has the slogan “Nothing about us without us,” reminding that we should include and work with persons with disabilities and their representative groups rather than plan or make decisions on their behalf. Persons with disabilities should be engaged throughout shelter programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
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Outbreaks of mpox in newly affected countries have mostly been identified in communities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who have had recent sexual contact with a new partner or partners. Communities of trans and gender diverse people linked to the same sexual networks have also... been affected.
This document (updated in March 2023) is intended for use by individuals, community leaders, influencers, health workers and others affected by or working on the mpox outbreak. It contains information to help people reduce their risk of mpox and to help slow the spread of the virus. This is the third version of this publication – it has been updated based on current public health advice.
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UNICEF Malawi and its partners are prioritizing renewable energy solutions for children and communities across the country to access clean and affordable electricity, with a focus on hard-to-reach, rural communities unable to access the national electricity grid.
Recommended practices booklet (April 2020)
The set includes 10 Counselling Cards and a Recommended Practices Booklet. Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counselling in the context of COVID-19 remains a critical nutrition intervention for the protection and support of pregnant women, caregivers, ...and their young children. WHO and UNICEF advise caregivers and families with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to continue the recommended IYCF practices with the necessary hygiene precautions. It is therefore vital to ensure that communities and families around the world adopt these recommendations to help prevent the spread of the virus and care for those who are infected.
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This selected material from Hesperian's Community Guide to Environmental Health offers 48 pages of information on basic sanitation and hygiene, including instructions on building safe, affordable, environmentally-friendly sanitation systems, as well as learning activities to help communities underst...and and prevent sanitation-related health problems. Also available in Spanish and French.
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WaterAid is an international NGO that provides assistance for safe water supply,
sanitation and hygiene practice in the poor communities in the world.
The Atlas of health and climate is a product of this unique collaboration between the meteorological and public health communities. It provides sound scientific information on the connections between weather and climate and major health challenges. These range from diseases of poverty to emergencies... arising from extreme weather events and disease outbreaks. They also include environmental degradation, the increasing prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and the universal trend of demographic ageing.
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A guide to facilitating community-managed disaster risk reduction in the Horn of Africa.
This manual describes how to help communities implement disaster risk reduction activities. It was written for development workers and community-based organizations in the Horn of Africa, but practitioners can ...use it to implement activities around the world
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This film is aimed at community health workers, parents and communities to teach them the important signs and symptoms to look for in a sick child and when and why they need to make sure they seek help as early as possible from a skilled health worker.
This film focuses primarily on the signs and... symptoms of malaria.
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Health Information Translations provides education resources in multiple languages for health care professionals and others to use in their communities. Resources are easy to read and culturally appropriate.
The changes occurring in Myanmar highlight the need to have a robust DRR network that can support the Government as well as the communities in their efforts to build a resilient Myanmar. To this end, the DRR WG devised and facilitated a multi-stakeholder process aiming to develop its Strategic Frame...work 2013-2018. This document is the outcome of a series of internal workshops and external consultations, in particular with the relevant departments of the Government of Myanmar. This Strategic Framework will guide the collective efforts of the DRR WG over the next five years.
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Investing in Child Protection
Building Inclusive, Productive and Resilient Communities in Malawi