The Lives of Community Health Workers: Local Labor and Global Health in Urban Ethiopia. Kenneth Maes, New York: Routledge, 2017, 171 pp.

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. NA-NA
Author(s):  
Crystal Biruk
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers

Global health's durable dreams: ethnography, ‘community health workers’ and health without health infrastructure

Africa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Ramah McKay
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Global Health Policy ◽  
Public Health Officials

AbstractTracing the persistence of community health workers (CHWs) as a key category in both global health policy and anthropological representation, this article asks how enduring scholarly investments in CHWs can reveal changing political stakes for both health work and ethnographic research. Amid renewed calls for a focus on health systems and universal health coverage, the article suggests that the durability of attention to CHWs is instructive. It simultaneously points to the imbrication of health with political and social relations and clinical and technological infrastructures as well as to how ethnographic investments in health systems can sometimes obscure the ambivalent politics of health. Drawing on fieldwork with CHWs, NGO staff and public health officials, and on public health literature on CHWs, it argues for greater attention to the political ambivalence of health labour. It suggests that the experiences of health workers themselves can serve as analytical examples in this regard, pointing to analyses that begin not with normative notions of health systems or the conceptual boundaries of global health ‘projects’ but with a focus on the contested relations through which health labour is realized over time. Such attention can also indicate possibilities for health beyond dreams of projects, clinics or health systems.

scholarly journals Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 2. Planning, coordination, and partnerships

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (S3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mahmood Afzal ◽  
George W. Pariyo ◽  
Zohra S. Lassi ◽  
Henry B. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
New Era

Abstract Background Community health workers (CHWs) play a critical role in grassroots healthcare and are essential for achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. While there is a critical shortage of essential health workers in low- and middle-income countries, WHO and international partners have reached a consensus on the need to expand and strengthen CHW programmes as a key element in achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The COVID-19 pandemic has further revealed that emerging health challenges require quick local responses such as those utilizing CHWs. This is the second paper of our 11-paper supplement, “Community health workers at the dawn of a new era”. Our objective here is to highlight questions, challenges, and strategies for stakeholders to consider while planning the introduction, expansion, or strengthening of a large-scale CHW programme and the complex array of coordination and partnerships that need to be considered. Methods The authors draw on the outcomes of discussions during key consultations with various government leaders and experts from across policy, implementation, research, and development organizations in which the authors have engaged in the past decade. These include global consultations on CHWs and global forums on human resources for health (HRH) conferences between 2010 and 2014 (Montreux, Bangkok, Recife, Washington DC). They also build on the authors’ direct involvement with the Global Health Workforce Alliance. Results Weak health systems, poor planning, lack of coordination, and failed partnerships have produced lacklustre CHW programmes in countries. This paper highlights the three issues that are generally agreed as being critical to the long-term effectiveness of national CHW programmes—planning, coordination, and partnerships. Mechanisms are available in many countries such as the UHC2030 (formerly International Health Partnership), country coordinating mechanisms (CCMs), and those focusing on the health workforce such as the national Human Resources for Health Observatory and the Country Coordination and Facilitation (CCF) initiatives introduced by the Global Health Workforce Alliance. Conclusion It is imperative to integrate CHW initiatives into formal health systems. Multidimensional interventions and multisectoral partnerships are required to holistically address the challenges at national and local levels, thereby ensuring synergy among the actions of partners and stakeholders. In order to establish robust and institutionalized processes, coordination is required to provide a workable platform and conducive environment, engaging all partners and stakeholders to yield tangible results.

scholarly journals The critical importance of community health workers as first responders to COVID-19 in USA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahbel Rahman ◽  
Abigail Ross ◽  
Rogério Pinto
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Pandemic Response

Abstract COVID-19 has served to exacerbate existing health disparities and inequities, most—if not all—of which can be traced to the social determinants of health (SDOH) that affect specific populations and communities. Essential to health and health systems long before, community health workers are experts in addressing SDOH in community-based settings; however, they have yet to be mobilized as part of the COVID-19 response both in the US and internationally. We use data from our mixed-methods study with supervisors (n=6), Executive Directors (EDs) (n=7), and CHWs (n=90) to describe the critical role that CHWs can play to assist in response to COVID-19 using New York State's (NYS) as a case example. Building on these findings, we raise specific CHW workforce issues and propose recommendations for how to mobilize this workforce in national pandemic response efforts.

scholarly journals Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All”

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (S3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry B. Perry ◽  
Mushtaque Chowdhury ◽  
Miriam Were ◽  
Karen LeBan ◽  
Lauren Crigler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
New Era ◽  
Health Goals ◽  
Health Related

Abstract Background This is the concluding paper of our 11-paper supplement, “Community health workers at the dawn of a new era”. Methods We relied on our collective experience, an extensive body of literature about community health workers (CHWs), and the other papers in this supplement to identify the most pressing challenges facing CHW programmes and approaches for strengthening CHW programmes. Results CHWs are increasingly being recognized as a critical resource for achieving national and global health goals. These goals include achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals of Universal Health Coverage, ending preventable child and maternal deaths, and making a major contribution to the control of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and noncommunicable diseases. CHWs can also play a critical role in responding to current and future pandemics. For these reasons, we argue that CHWs are now at the dawn of a new era. While CHW programmes have long been an underfunded afterthought, they are now front and centre as the emerging foundation of health systems. Despite this increased attention, CHW programmes continue to face the same pressing challenges: inadequate financing, lack of supplies and commodities, low compensation of CHWs, and inadequate supervision. We outline approaches for strengthening CHW programmes, arguing that their enormous potential will only be realized when investment and health system support matches rhetoric. Rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and implementation research are also needed to enable CHW programmes to continuously improve their quality and effectiveness. Conclusion A marked increase in sustainable funding for CHW programmes is needed, and this will require increased domestic political support for prioritizing CHW programmes as economies grow and additional health-related funding becomes available. The paradigm shift called for here will be an important step in accelerating progress in achieving current global health goals and in reaching the goal of Health for All.

Community Health Workers in Global Health: Scale and Scalability

2011 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Liu ◽  
Sarah Sullivan ◽  
Mohammed Khan ◽  
Sonia Sachs ◽  
Prabhjot Singh
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers

scholarly journals Patterns of authorship on community health workers in low-and-middle-income countries: an analysis of publications (2012–2016)

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. e000797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Schneider ◽  
Nelisiwe Maleka
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Funding Source ◽  
Maternal Child Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

IntroductionStudies of authorship provide a barometer of local research capacity and ownership of research, considered key to defining appropriate research priorities, developing contextualised responses to health problems and ensuring that research informs policy and practice. This paper reports on an analysis of patterns of research authorship of the now substantial literature on community health workers (CHWs) in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) for the 5-year period: 2012–2016.MethodsA search of five databases identified a total of 649 indexed publications reporting on CHWs in LMICs and meeting the inclusion criteria. The country, region and income classification of studies, affiliations (country, organisation) of lead (first) and last authors, proportions of all authors locally affiliated, programme area (eg, maternal child health) and funding source were extracted.ResultsThe 649 papers reported experiences from 51 countries, 55% from middle-income countries (MICs) and 32% from low-income countries (LICs), with the remaining 13% multicountry studies. Overall, 47% and 54% of all the papers had a high-income country (HIC) lead and last author, respectively. Authorship followed three patterns: (1) a concentrated HIC pattern, with US-based authors numerically dominating LIC-based and multicountry studies; (2) an MIC pattern of autonomy, with a handful of countries—India, South Africa and Brazil, in particular—leading >70% of their CHW publications and (3) a pattern of unevenness among LICs in their lead authorship of publications varying from 14% (Malawi) to 54% (Uganda). Region, programme area and funding source were all associated with the distribution of authorship across country income categories.ConclusionThe findings in this analysis mirror closely that of other authorship studies in global health. Collectively these provide a common message—that investments in global health programmes in the Millennium Development Goal era may have benefited health but not necessarily capacity for knowledge generation in LMICs.

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