scholarly journals The role of community health workers in addressing the global burden of ear disease and hearing loss: a systematic scoping review of the literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e001141 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O'Donovan ◽  
Misha Verkerk ◽  
Niall Winters ◽  
Shelly Chadha ◽  
Mahmood F Bhutta
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Global Burden

IntroductionCommunity health workers (CHWs) have the potential to improve access to ear and hearing services for people across low-income or middle-income countries, remote, underserved, or resource-poor areas of the world. We performed a systematic scoping review to identify evidence on how CHWs are currently deployed in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and management of ear disease and hearing loss; methods to train and support CHWs in this context; and cost-effectiveness of CHWs.MethodsWe performed a systematic search of the literature from September 1978 to 18 March 2018 from 11 major databases and the grey literature.ResultsWe identified 38 original studies that met the inclusion criteria, taking place across South Asia (n=13), Oceania (n=7), North America (n=7), South America (n=6) and Africa (n=5). 23 studies showed CHWs can increase community participation in screening. They can conduct screening using whispered voice tests, noisemakers for neonatal screening, automated audiological tests and otoscopy. Eight studies focused specifically on the evaluation of programmes to train CHWs, and three provided a general programme description. Three studies documented a role of CHWs in the treatment of ear disease or hearing loss, such as performing ear washouts, instillation of topical antibiotics or fitting of hearing aids. Only one study provided an indepth cost-utility analysis regarding the use of CHWs to conduct hearing screening, and no studies commented on the role of CHWs in the prevention of hearing loss.ConclusionCHWs have been employed in diverse ways to address the global burden of ear disease and hearing loss. Future research needs to explore the role of CHWs in preventative strategies, identify optimum methods to train and support CHWs, and explore their cost-effectiveness.

scholarly journals Ongoing training of community health workers in low-income andmiddle-income countries: a systematic scoping review of the literature

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. e021467 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O’Donovan ◽  
Charles O’Donovan ◽  
Isla Kuhn ◽  
Sonia Ehrlich Sachs ◽  
Niall Winters
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Ongoing Training

scholarly journals The role of community health workers in the surgical cascade: a scoping review

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen W. Li ◽  
Michael L. Scanlon ◽  
Nicholas Kisilu ◽  
Debra K. Litzelman
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
Linkage To Care ◽  
Surgical Site Infections ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Operative Care

Abstract Background Community health workers (CHWs) can increase access to various primary healthcare services; however, their potential for improving surgical care is under-explored. We sought to assess the role of CHWs in the surgical cascade, defined as disease screening, linkage to operative care, and post-operative care. Given the well-described literature on CHWs and screening, we focused on the latter two steps of the surgical cascade. Methods We conducted a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature. We searched for studies published in any language from January 1, 2000 to May 1, 2020 using electronic literature databases including Pubmed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. We included articles on CHW involvement in linkage to operative care and/or post-operative surgical care. Narrative and descriptive methods were used to analyze the data. Results The initial search identified 145 articles relevant to steps in the surgical cascade. Ten studies met our inclusion criteria and were included for review. In linkage to care, CHWs helped increase surgical enrollment, provide resources for vulnerable patients, and build trust in healthcare services. Post-operatively, CHWs acted as effective monitors for surgical-site infections and provided socially isolated patients with support and linkage to additional services. The complex and wide-ranging needs of surgical patients illustrated the need to view surgical care as a continuum rather than a singular operative event. Conclusion While the current literature is limited, CHWs were able to maneuver complex medical, cultural, and social barriers to surgical care by linking patients to counseling, education, and community resources, as well as post-operative infection prevention services. Future studies would benefit from more rigorous study designs and larger sample sizes to further elucidate the role CHWs can serve in the surgical cascade.

scholarly journals Role of community health workers in type 2 diabetes mellitus self-management: A scoping review

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. e0198424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonaventure Amandi Egbujie ◽  
Peter Arthur Delobelle ◽  
Naomi Levitt ◽  
Thandi Puoane ◽  
David Sanders ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Self Management

scholarly journals Impact of Different Levels of Supervision on the Recovery of Severely Malnourished Children Treated by Community Health Workers in Mali

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Pilar Charle-Cuéllar ◽  
Noemí López-Ejeda ◽  
Mamadou Traore ◽  
Adama Balla Coulibaly ◽  
Aly Landouré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Community Intervention ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Supportive Supervision ◽  
Supervision Group ◽  
Different Levels

(1) Background: The Ministry of Health in Mali included the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) into the package of activities of the integrated community case management (iCCM). This paper evaluates the most effective model of supervision for treating SAM using community health workers (CHWs). Methods (2): This study was a prospective non-randomized community intervention trial with two intervention groups and one control group with different levels of supervision. It was conducted in three districts in rural areas of the Kayes Region. In the high supervision group, CHWs received supportive supervision for the iCCM package and nutrition-specific supervision. In the light supervision group, CHWs received supportive supervision based on the iCCM package. The control group had no specific supervision. (3) Results: A total of 6112 children aged 6–59 months with SAM without medical complications were included in the study. The proportion of cured children was 81.4% in those treated by CHWs in the high supervision group, 86.2% in the light supervision group, and 66.9% in the control group. Children treated by the CHWs who received some supervision had better outcomes than those treated by unsupervised CHWs (p < 0.001). There was no difference between areas with light and high supervision, although those with high supervision performed better in most of the tasks analyzed. (4) Conclusions: Public policies in low-income countries should be adapted, and their model of supervision of CHWs for SAM treatment in the community should be evaluated.

scholarly journals Exploring the Role of Community Health Workers in Providing Cancer Navigation: Perceptions of African American Older Adults

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. E288-E298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Wenzel ◽  
Randy Jones ◽  
Rachel Klimmek ◽  
Sarah Szanton ◽  
Sharon Krumm
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
African American ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
African American Older Adults

Networking community health workers for service integration: role of social media

AIDS Care ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Chunqing Lin ◽  
Loc Quang Pham ◽  
Diep Bich Nguyen ◽  
Tuan Anh Le
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Service Integration

scholarly journals Strategies Used By Community Health Workers to Influence Adoption of Maternal Nutrition Behaviors in Rural Bangladesh: A Focused Ethnographic Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1359-1359
Author(s):  
Gargi Wable Grandner ◽  
Katherine Dickin ◽  
Purnima Menon ◽  
Tiffany Yeh ◽  
John Hoddinott
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Maternal Nutrition ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Cultural Congruence ◽  
Healthy Tree ◽  
Diet Diversity

Abstract Objectives Efforts to integrate nutrition into antenatal health promotion in low income countries have led to increased involvement of community health workers (CHWs) in counseling on maternal nutrition. Little is known about how CHWs “package” messages in resource-poor communities to increase adoption of recommended maternal nutrition behaviors. We developed focused ethnographic techniques to explore this. Methods We interviewed 35 randomly selected CHWs providing monthly counseling to pregnant women and their families in 7 ‘Alive & Thrive’ intervention sites in Bangladesh. Two sorting exercises explored CHW strategies for promoting and perceptions of adoption of messages on micronutrient supplements, maternal dietary adequacy, and rest during pregnancy. In-depth probing on messages identified as “difficult” to deliver or adopt revealed how CHWs addressed barriers. Analysis of quantitative sorting data complemented thematic coding of qualitative textual data using grounded theory. Results CHW communication strategies involved 3 themes: feasibility (attitudes, norms, agency, poverty), audience (influence, motivators, support), and linguistic choice (emotional appeals, metaphors, logic, sellable but inaccurate arguments). CHWs viewed micronutrient messages as least difficult to adopt, requiring minimal “packaging”. Dietary messages were moderately difficult to adopt, prompting CHWs to leverage cultural congruence to target family members with different strategies. For example, messaging on diet diversity targeted husbands—the primary food-buyers—with logical arguments highlighting costs of inaction. When mothers-in-law held beliefs restricting gestational food intake, CHWs used metaphors (‘healthy tree, healthy fruit’) or faith-based appeals. Some CHWs used inaccurate messages (‘mother rests, baby rests’) to promote rest during pregnancy because it was seen as the least feasible behavior to adopt. Conclusions Where behavior change is viewed as feasible, CHWs use culturally resonant strategies to enhance adoption of maternal nutrition behaviors. Cultural congruence, or shared beliefs, language and cultural identity, is key to CHW effectiveness, but unhelpful for contextually infeasible behaviors. BCC programs co-designed with CHWs could improve messaging and effectiveness. Funding Sources Cornell AWARE Travel Grant.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of service models and organisational structures supporting tuberculosis identification and management in hard-to-reach populations in countries of low and medium tuberculosis incidence: a systematic review

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e019642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte C Heuvelings ◽  
Patrick F Greve ◽  
Sophia G de Vries ◽  
Benjamin Jelle Visser ◽  
Sabine Bélard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
European Union ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Service Models ◽  
Hard To Reach Populations ◽  
Organisational Structures

ObjectiveTo determine which service models and organisational structures are effective and cost-effective for delivering tuberculosis (TB) services to hard-to-reach populations.DesignEmbase and MEDLINE (1990–2017) were searched in order to update and extend the 2011 systematic review commissioned by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), discussing interventions targeting service models and organisational structures for the identification and management of TB in hard-to-reach populations. The NICE and Cochrane Collaboration standards were followed.SettingEuropean Union, European Economic Area, European Union candidate countries and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.ParticipantsHard-to-reach populations, including migrants, homeless people, drug users, prisoners, sex workers, people living with HIV and children within vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.Primary and secondary outcome measuresEffectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the interventions.ResultsFrom the 19 720 citations found, five new studies were identified, in addition to the six discussed in the NICE review. Community health workers from the same migrant community, street teams and peers improved TB screening uptake by providing health education, promoting TB screening and organising contact tracing. Mobile TB clinics, specialised TB clinics and improved cooperation between healthcare services can be effective at identifying and treating active TB cases and are likely to be cost-effective. No difference in treatment outcome was detected when directly observed therapy was delivered at a health clinic or at a convenient location in the community.ConclusionsAlthough evidence is limited due to the lack of high-quality studies, interventions using peers and community health workers, mobile TB services, specialised TB clinics and improved cooperation between health services can be effective to control TB in hard-to-reach populations. Future studies should evaluate the (cost-)effectiveness of interventions on TB identification and management in hard-to-reach populations and countries should be urged to publish the outcomes of their TB control systems.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42015017865.

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