Community Health Workers Assisting Patients With Diabetes in Self-management

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lee Hargraves ◽  
Warren J. Ferguson ◽  
Celeste A. Lemay ◽  
Joan Pernice
2021 ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Jose Frantz ◽  
Levona J. Johnson ◽  
Zamantungwa N. Mvelase ◽  
Janene E. Marais

Author(s):  
Levona J. Johnson ◽  
Laura H. Schopp ◽  
Firdouza Waggie ◽  
José M. Frantz

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are change agents expected to assist in decreasing the global burden of disease in the communities they serve. However, they themselves have health risk behaviours, which predispose them to non-communicable diseases and thus need to be empowered to make better health choices. There is a gap in literature detailing the challenges faced by CHWs in addressing their own health risk behaviours.Aim: This study aimed to explore the challenges experienced by CHWs in carrying out their daily duties and the motivating factors to join a self-management programme.Setting: The study was conducted in a low socio-economic urban area of the Western Cape, South Africa.Methods: This study used a qualitative exploratory design using in-depth interviews to obtain rich data about the personal and professional challenges that CHWs experience on a daily basis.Results: Five themes emerged with regard to professional challenges (social conditions, mental health of patients, work environment, patient adherence and communication). This cadre identified ineffective self-management as a personal challenge and two themes emerged as motivation for participating in a self-management programme: empowerment and widening perspective.Conclusion: The challenges raised by the CHWs have a direct impact on their role in communities. This study therefore highlights an urgent need for policymakers and leaders who plan training programmes to take intentional strategic action to address their health challenges and to consider utilising a self-management intervention model to improve their overall health status.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Aponte ◽  
Tranice D Jackson ◽  
Katarzyna Wyka ◽  
Cyril Ikechi

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 983-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Majee ◽  
Adaobi Anakwe ◽  
Levona Johnson ◽  
Anthea Rhoda ◽  
Jose Frantz ◽  
...  

Background. While community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly being used as a strategy for increasing health care access, particularly in rural communities, interventions are needed to improve their skill sets in inspiring health behavior change, both for themselves and among their community clients. Self-management (SM) education interventions have shown to improve health behaviors and well-being. Purpose. This article reports on systematic, in-depth interviews conducted with rural CHWs in South Africa to understand (1) their motivation for participating in SM training, (2) skills gained from training and (3) perceived impact of training on CHW health behavior, both personally and as health professionals. Method. Nineteen rural CHWs who completed an SM training participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. Transcripts were independently coded by two researchers using the thematic framework approach. Findings. CHWs felt empowered to change their health behavior by skills such as goal setting and action planning, and by growth in self-awareness and confidence. They expressed that their desire to help others motivated them to participate in SM training. Conclusion. SM training programs that address practice skill gaps hold promise in producing health behavior changes for rural CHWs and their clients.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. e0198424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonaventure Amandi Egbujie ◽  
Peter Arthur Delobelle ◽  
Naomi Levitt ◽  
Thandi Puoane ◽  
David Sanders ◽  
...  

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