scholarly journals Smartphones for community health in rural Cambodia: A feasibility study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengby Ngor ◽  
Lisa J. White ◽  
Jeremy Chalk ◽  
Yoel Lubell ◽  
Cecelia Favede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Smartphone Technology ◽  
Study Completion ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

Background: Village Malaria Workers (VMWs) are lay people trained to provide a valuable role in frontline testing and treatment of malaria in rural villages in Cambodia. Emergence of artemisinin-resistant malaria highlights the essential role of such VMWs in surveillance and early treatment of malaria. Smartphone technology offers huge potential to support VMWs in isolated and resource-poor settings.  Methods: We investigated the feasibility of issuing established VMWs with a smartphone, bespoke Android application and solar charger to support their role. 27 VMWs in Kampong Cham and Kratie provinces participated.  Results: 26/27 of the smartphones deployed were working well at study completion twelve months later. Interviews with VMWs using quantitative and qualitative methods revealed pride, ease of use and reports of faster communication with the smartphone. VMWs also expressed a strong wish to help people presenting with non-malarial fever, for which further potential supportive smartphone applications are increasingly available.  Conclusions: As a result of this pilot study, two smartphone based reporting systems for malaria have been developed at the Cambodian National Malaria Center, and the programme is now being extended nationwide. The full code for the smartphone application is made available to other researchers and healthcare providers with this article. Smartphones represent a feasible platform for developing the VMW role to include other health conditions, thus maintaining the relevance of these important community health workers.

scholarly journals Stimmen: A citizen science approach to minority language sociolinguistics

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna Haug Hilton
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Speech Corpora ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Smartphone Technology ◽  
Language Areas

Abstract This paper presents the project Stimmen fan Fryslân ‘Voices of Fryslân’. The project relies on a smartphone application developed to involve local communities in the creation of speech corpora, particularly of lesser used languages. This paper lays out the scientific and societal context of the project, showcases the smartphone application and gives an overview of the results from the project that attracted more than 15,000 users. Some key methodological issues are considered, and the paper discusses the role of smartphone technology for citizen science in minority language areas while also showing new maps with distributions of lexical and phonological variation in Frisian.

scholarly journals Community health worker models in South Africa: a qualitative study on policy implementation of the 2018/19 revised framework

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P Murphy ◽  
Aneesa Moolla ◽  
Sharon Kgowedi ◽  
Constance Mongwenyana ◽  
Sithabile Mngadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Programme Implementation ◽  
Healthcare Facilities

Abstract South Africa has a long history of community health workers (CHWs). It has been a journey that has required balancing constrained resources and competing priorities. CHWs form a bridge between communities and healthcare service provision within health facilities and act as the cornerstone of South Africa’s Ward-Based Primary Healthcare Outreach Teams. This study aimed to document the CHW policy implementation landscape across six provinces in South Africa and explore the reasons for local adaptation of CHW models and to identify potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of the revised framework to help guide and inform future planning. We conducted a qualitative study among a sample of Department of Health Managers at the National, Provincial and District level, healthcare providers, implementing partners [including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who worked with CHWs] and CHWs themselves. Data were collected between April 2018 and December 2018. We conducted 65 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with healthcare providers, managers and experts familiar with CHW work and nine focus group discussions (FGDs) with 101 CHWs. We present (i) current models of CHW policy implementation across South Africa, (ii) facilitators, (iii) barriers to CHW programme implementation and (iv) respondents’ recommendations on how the CHW programme can be improved. We chronicled the differences in NGO involvement, the common facilitators of purpose and passion in the CHWs’ work and the multitude of barriers and resource limitations CHWs must work under. We found that models of implementation vary greatly and that adaptability is an important aspect of successful implementation under resource constraints. Our findings largely aligned to existing research but included an evaluation of districts/provinces that had not previously been explored together. CHWs continue to promote health and link their communities to healthcare facilities, in spite of lack of permanent employment, limited resources, such as uniforms, and low wages.

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

What are the roles of community health workers? Looking back at the philosophies of primary health care

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-120
Author(s):  
Marietou Niang
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Health System ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Looking Back

This commentary discusses the different roles of community health workers (CHWs), their challenges and limitations in a historical perspective of primary health care (PHC). We first try to show that the comprehensive philosophy of PHC promulgated in Alma-Ata proposed the role of CHWs as actors who work in community development. On the other hand, in the 1980s, with the emergence of the selective philosophy of PHC, CHWs’ role was more affiliated with the health system. We conclude our pitch about the balance that can exist between these different roles by suggesting that CHWs can work in continuity with the health system, but they should not be considered as affordable labor. Also, they must be supported in their activities to develop their communities, allowing them to participate effectively in programs and policies that concern them and their community.

New Problems in Community Health: Implications for Residency and Training Programs

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. Richter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Educational Training ◽  
Health Officer ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
And Training

Schistosomiasis in Egypt and slum housing in New York City are examples of the kinds of problems which require public health workers to look beyond conventional medical horizons. The role of public health workers needs to be expanded beyond the traditional administrative boundaries for government and the academic world. The writer advocates changed and closer institutional relationships between training centers and client communities, and more active roles for a greater number of community health professionals as part of their graduate educational experience. This is consistent with the idea that educational training programs have to prepare their graduates for career patterns with greater action and initiative. The health officership, with its far-reaching mandate for involvement in all aspects of community health, is suggested as an instrument through which academic involvement in community health can be mediated. At the same time, the role of the health officer needs to be redefined as the community's “ecologic triage officer.” Involvement with the health officer's problems will broaden an institution's approach to community health because these problems reach beyond medical care. The professional roles associated with many of the major new problems of community health will require closer structural relationships between governmental-type field settings and academic residency and training programs.

scholarly journals Community Health Worker Evaluation of Implementing an mHealth Application to Support Maternal Health Care in Rural India

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Charanthimath ◽  
Geetanjali Katageri ◽  
Mai-Lei Woo Kinshella ◽  
Ashalata Mallapur ◽  
Shivaprasad Goudar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Mhealth Intervention ◽  
Auxiliary Nurse

Introduction: PIERS on the Move (POM) is a mobile health (mHealth) application developed for a smartphone to support community health workers (CHWs) for identification and management of women at risk of adverse outcomes from pre-eclampsia. POM was implemented as an addition to routine antenatal care by accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) during the community level intervention for pre-eclampsia (CLIP) Trial in Karnataka state, India (NCT01911494). The objective of this study was to evaluate the experiences of CHWs of using POM in rural India and their perceptions of acceptability and feasibility of this mHealth intervention.Methods: A posttrial mixed-methods evaluation was designed to measure CHW knowledge and self-efficacy regarding the care of women with pre-eclampsia and perceptions of CHWs on the ease of use and usefulness of POM. A structured survey with open-ended questions was conducted between October and November 2017. The median values on a 5-point Likert scale for knowledge and self-efficacy questions were compared between trial arms by Mann–Whitney U test (p < 0.05 significant). Qualitative analysis was undertaken on NVivo 12 (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia).Results: A total of 48 ASHAs and ANMs were interviewed, including 24 who used POM (intervention arm) and 24 who did not (control arm). Self-reported knowledge and self-efficacy for the care of women with pre-eclampsia did not differ between groups. The qualitative analysis highlighted that health workers who used POM reported improved interactions with women and families in their communities. POM strengthened the role of ASHA as a CHW beyond a “link-worker” accompanying women to health services. With training, the mHealth application was easy to use even for CHWs who did not have much experience with smartphones.Conclusions: Community health workers found the POM app easy to use, useful, and well-received by women and their families. POM did not improve care through increased knowledge but built capacity by increasing the recognition of the ASHA and ANM as critical members of the continuum of antenatal healthcare within their communities. These findings support the important role that mHealth technologies can play in strengthening health systems to reach rural, remote, and marginalized populations to reduce disparities in health.

scholarly journals Mobilities of the Community Health Work Practice: Mobile Health system Mediated Work

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Namatovu ◽  
Johan Ivar Sæbø ◽  
Jens Johan Kaasbøll
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Health Work ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Community Health Work ◽  
Supported Work

New technologies have been implicated in various forms of mobilities creating new realities and questioning normative categories and the order in contexts where they are applied. Our study argues that through understanding technology mobilities, we uniquely bring to light new forms of social phenomena that materialize with interactions between mHealth systems and the work of Community Health workers in Malawi. Through the analysis, we also elaborate the role of both human and non-human actants in work transformations. This is important in managing technological innovations and theorizing electronically supported work practices.

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