Nutrition training of health and agriculture workers can help to reduce child undernutrition. Specifically, trained health ...o-highlight medbox">extension workers cancontribute through frequent nutrition counselling of caregivers. Evidence from systematic reviews has showed that providing nutrition training targeting health workers can improve feeding frequency, energy intake, and dietary diversity of children aged six months to two years. Scaling up of nutrition training for health and agriculture workers presents a potential entry point to improve nutrition status among childrenFood insecurity and nutrition deficiency are a common phenomenon in Ethiopia.
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As the global community aims to fulfill its commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the achievement of universal health coverage, dozens of countries have committed to the ...ss="attribute-to-highlight medbox">expansion of community health workers (CHWs) as the front line of their healthcare systems [1, 2]. Robust research demonstrates CHWs improve access to care, reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality, improve clinical outcomes for chronic diseases, and prevent disease outbreaks [3].
To support the operationalization of quality CHW program design and implementation, USAID, UNICEF, the Community Health Impact Coalition, and Initiatives Inc. have updated and adapted the Community Health Worker Assessment and Improvement Matrix (CHW AIM) Program Functionality Matrix [12]. This tool can be used to identify design and implementation gaps in both small- and national-scale CHW programs, and close gaps in policy and practice.
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BMC Health Services Research 2012, 12:352
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/12/352
PACK Nigeria (Adult and Child) provides a single, integrated, comprehensive, evidence-informed clinical guide to support all cadres working in primary healthcare in Nigeria: i.e. junior community health...pan> extension workers (JCHEWs), community health extension workers (CHEWs), community health officers (CHOs), nurses, midwives and medical officers. Colour-coding is used to clearly delineate the scope of practice of these different cadres and clarify referral pathways. This integration promotes a team-based approach to a patient’s care and enables patients to receive consistent and standardized care from whichever cadre treats them.
You can register for free and get the PACK Global Adult Guide for free
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This policy will serve as a cornerstone from which to address the accessibility of Family Planning services and to encourage its integration with services for HIV/AIDS, maternal health, child health..., and other development initiatives. This policy is timely, as Rwanda is embarking on the introduction of community-based provision of Family Planning through community health workers. In addition, the expansion of adolescent sexual and reproductive health programs is a pillar of this policy that will help attract and retain the next generation of Family Planning users. These efforts are anticipated to trigger a paradigm change in the way Family Planning services are provided and accessed in order to contribute towards a healthy and productive Rwanda for all.
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Glob Health Sci Pract; March 24, 2017, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 44-56
This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled “Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era”. Expectations of ...-to-highlight medbox">community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array
of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on
current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.
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Background: Community health worker (CHW) programmes are a valuable component of primary care in resource-poor settings. The evidence supporting th...eir effectiveness generally shows improvements in disease-specific outcomes relative to the absence of a CHW programme. In this study, we evaluated expanding an existing HIV and tuberculosis (TB) disease-specific CHW programme into a polyvalent, household-based model that subsequently included non-communicable diseases (NCDs), malnutrition and TB screening, as well as family planning and antenatal care (ANC).
Methods: We conducted a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in Neno District, Malawi. Six clusters of approximately 20 000 residents were formed from the catchment areas of 11 healthcare facilities. The intervention roll-out was staggered every 3 months over 18 months, with CHWs receiving a 5-day foundational training for their new tasks and assigned 20–40 households for monthly (or more frequent) visits.
Findings: The intervention resulted in a decrease of approximately 20% in the rate of patients defaulting from chronic NCD care each month (−0.8 percentage points (pp) (95% credible interval: −2.5 to 0.5)) while maintaining the already low default rates for HIV patients (0.0 pp, 95% CI: −0.6 to 0.5). First trimester ANC attendance increased by approximately 30% (6.5pp (−0.3, 15.8)) and paediatric malnutrition case finding declined by 10% (−0.6 per 1000 (95% CI −2.5 to 0.8)). There were no changes in TB programme outcomes, potentially due to data challenges.
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PLoS ONE 11(1): e0144662. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144662
This report makes the case for a major new initiative—to rapidly recruit, train and deploy 2 million community health workers in Africa. Drawing ...on a vast body of evidence and substantial regional experience, the report shows how community health workers save lives and improve quality of life and how investments in community health workers effectively harness the demographic dividend, reduce gender inequality and accelerate economic growth and development. Indeed, the benefits of community health workers stretch from one end of the Agenda for Sustainable Development to the other.
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Glob Health Sci Pract February 1, 2014 vol. 2 no. 1 p. 103-116
The object of this bill is to provide for a legal framework to promote the existence of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and to provide for clarity ...in the role and responsibilities assigned to CHWs in the Health sector and to promote and strengthen service delivery at the Community level. The law will regulate training, certification and registration and set minimum qualifications and standards and working conditions for the CHWs.
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This document synthesizes key elements of the World Health Organization (WHO) normative guidance on health policy and system support for community ...health worker (CHW) programmes and their application for HIV programmes. Building on relevant elements of HIV guidelines, tools and evidence identified by experts, it provides recommendations on tasks and roles that can be performed by CHWs (including for HIV), identifies the policy and system supports to optimize CHW performance, and gives examples of best practice. Its purpose is to inform the optimal design and delivery of CHW programmes targeting – either specifically or as part of a broader approach – the scale-up and sustainability of HIV services.
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