Should community health workers offer support healthcare services to survivors of sexual violence? a systematic review

Abstract Background Tuberculosis is a top-10 cause of under-5 mortality, despite policies promoting tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT). We previously conducted a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of symptom-based versus tuberculin skin-based screening on child TPT uptake. Symptom-based screening did not improve TPT uptake and nearly two-thirds of child contacts were not identified or not linked to care. Here we qualitatively explored healthcare provider perceptions of factors that impacted TPT uptake among child contacts. Methods Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants including healthcare providers and administrators who participated in the trial in Matlosana, South Africa. The participants’ experience with symptom-based screening, study implementation strategies, and ongoing challenges with child contact identification and linkage to care were explored. Interviews were systematically coded and thematic content analysis was conducted. Results Participants’ had mixed opinions about symptom-based screening and high acceptability of the study implementation strategies. A key barrier to optimizing child contact screening and evaluation was the supervision and training of community health workers. Conclusions Symptom screening is a simple and effective strategy to evaluate child contacts, but additional pediatric training is needed to provide comfort with decision making. New clinic-based child contact files were highly valued by providers who continued to use them after trial completion. Future interventions to improve child contact management will need to address how to best utilize community health workers in identifying and linking child contacts to care. Trial registration The results presented here were from research related to NCT03074799, retrospectively registered on 9 March 2017.

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Systematic review of physical activity promotion by community health workers

Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.08.007 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 81 ◽

pp. 114-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Evelyn Fabiana Costa ◽

Paulo Henrique Guerra ◽

Taynã Ishii dos Santos ◽

Alex Antonio Florindo

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Physical Activity Promotion ◽

Activity Promotion

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Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Address Mental Health Disparities for Underserved Populations: A Systematic Review

Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research ◽

10.1007/s10488-017-0815-0 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 195-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Miya L. Barnett ◽

Araceli Gonzalez ◽

Jeanne Miranda ◽

Denise A. Chavira ◽

Anna S. Lau

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Health Disparities ◽

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Underserved Populations ◽

Mental Health Disparities

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Intimate Labor at Biomedical Frontlines: Situated Knowledges of Female Community Health Workers in the Management of COVID-19 in India

Catalyst Feminism Theory Technoscience ◽

10.28968/cftt.v7i1.34781 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sanghamitra Das ◽

Samhita Das

Keyword(s):

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Medical Knowledge ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Care Work ◽

Professional Status ◽

Public Healthcare ◽

The Public ◽

Female Community

Media reports of the COVID-19 pandemic in India have highlighted the important role that India’s female community health workers, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), have played in managing COVID infections in India. This paper explores the epistemic basis of ASHA work to understand the significance of their role. Through a discourse analysis of textual media articles, we show that the ASHAs’ routine and COVID-related caregiving practices are a form of embodied, intimate labor rooted in their situated, community-oriented knowledge. This labor is devalued as emotional and feminized care work, which denies the ASHAs professional status in the public healthcare system of India and, in turn, reflects a hierarchy among health practitioners that stems from the status of objectivity/disembodiment in biomedicine. We find that, despite their low status in the public health system, ASHA workers develop a self-concept that enables them to self-identify as healthcare professionals, motivating them to continue providing essential healthcare services during the pandemic. We argue that an official recognition of the epistemic value of ASHA work would help to overcome the age-old nature/culture dichotomy that informs what counts as valuable, legitimate, formal medical knowledge. Furthermore, our analysis provides a critique of the gendered devaluation of care work within a political economy of health increasingly dictated by a neoliberal logic.

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COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS IN THE CONTROL OF MALARIA AND NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

JBI Library of Systematic Reviews ◽

10.11124/jbisrir-2010-580 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (Supplement) ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Ivan EMIL ◽

Kato J NJUNWA ◽

Joseph NTAGANIRA

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Community Health ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Sub Saharan

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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 ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019642 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. e019642 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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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