scholarly journals Case Study: Rapid Training of Community Health Workers Using Enskill®

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
W. Lewis Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Simulated Patients ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Hampton Roads ◽  
Learning Platform

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many workers to lose their jobs, and also resulted in rapid surges in demand for workers with particular skills. In public health there was suddenly a huge demand for community health workers to conduct contact tracing, vaccination, and community outreach. To address this need, our team undertook the challenge of creating an online course that trains workers for community health work in half the time of typical training programs. It utilizes the Enskill® learning platform, which uses AI technology to create simulated scenarios in which trainees practice skills with avatars acting as simulated patients. Fifty-seven training participants without college degrees were recruited for the program from the Hampton Roads region, in collaboration with the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. The first cohorts of trainees were able to complete the training successfully in just eight weeks, and are now being placed in public health and healthcare positions. The approach also shows promise for upskilling existing employees to address skill gaps. The Enskill training program is a competitor in the XPRIZE Foundation’s Rapid Reskilling competition, to quickly reskill under-resourced workers for the digital revolution.

scholarly journals An innovative approach to improve the detection and treatment of risk factors in poor urban settings: a feasibility study in Argentina

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Poggio Rosana ◽  
Goodarz Danaei ◽  
Laura Gutierrez ◽  
Ana Cavallo ◽  
María Victoria Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Cvd Risk Factors ◽  
Cvd Risk

Abstract Background The effective management of cardiovascular (CVD) prevention among the population with exclusive public health coverage in Argentina is low since less than 30% of the individuals with predicted 10-year CVD risk ≥10% attend a clinical visit for CVD risk factors control in the primary care clinics (PCCs). Methods We conducted a non-controlled feasibility study using a mixed methods approach to evaluate acceptability, adoption and fidelity of a multi-component intervention implemented in the public healthcare system. The eligibility criteria were having exclusive public health coverage, age ≥ 40 years, residence in the PCC’s catchment area and 10-year CVD risk ≥10%. The multi-component intervention addressed (1) system barriers through task shifting among the PCC’s staff, protected medical appointments slots and a new CVD form and (2) Provider barriers through training for primary care physicians and CHW and individual barriers through a home-based intervention delivered by community health workers (CHWs). Results A total of 185 participants were included in the study. Of the total number of eligible participants, 82.2% attended at least one clinical visit for risk factor control. Physicians intensified drug treatment in 77% of participants with BP ≥140/90 mmHg and 79.5% of participants with diabetes, increased the proportion of participants treated according to GCP from 21 to 32.6% in hypertensive participants, 7.4 to 33.3% in high CVD risk and 1.4 to 8.7% in very high CVD risk groups. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure were lower at the end of follow up (156.9 to 145.4 mmHg and 92.9 to 88.9 mmHg, respectively) and control of hypertension (BP < 140/90 mmHg) increased from 20.3 to 35.5%. Conclusion The proposed CHWs-led intervention was feasible and well accepted to improve the detection and treatment of risk factors in the poor population with exclusive public health coverage and with moderate or high CVD risk at the primary care setting in Argentina. Task sharing activities with CHWs did not only stimulate teamwork among PCC staff, but it also improved quality of care. This study showed that community health workers could have a more active role in the detection and clinical management of CVD risk factors in low-income communities.

scholarly journals 3125 Acceptability of a Narrative Video to Enhance the Use of Genetic Counseling in Latina Women at-risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Community Health Worker’s Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. 80-81
Author(s):  
Alejandra Hurtado de Mendoza ◽  
Kristi Graves ◽  
Sara Gómez-Trillos ◽  
Minna Song ◽  
Lyndsay Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Patient Navigators ◽  
Latino Community

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The goal of the study was to assess the acceptability of a culturally targeted narrative video and identify potential avenues for dissemination in a sample of bilingual community health workers who provide services to the Latino community in the United States. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We piloted the video in a sample of bilingual community health workers who provide services to Latinos (n=31). After watching the video, participants filled out a survey. The survey captured sociodemographic data (e.g. education), their role and experience working with Latinos (e.g. patient navigators), acceptability of the video (e.g. general satisfaction, length of the video, amount of information), and potential dissemination (e.g., dissemination channels, preferred settings to watch the video, and preferred context). Three open ended questions captured information about how the video could be useful for the Latino community, what they liked the most from the video, and suggestions for improvement. Data was entered in SPSS version 25. We used descriptive statistics to analyze the survey, and content analysis to summarize the feedback from the open-ended questions. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Participants (n = 31) had an average age of 46 years (SD=16.99), all self-identified as Hispanic or Latinos, most were female (90.3%), and worked as patient navigators (29%) or community outreach workers (25.8%). The video’s general acceptability was very high. Participants reported high ratings for overall satisfaction, how much they liked the video, enjoyed it, and considered it to be interesting (all means >9.6, range 1-10). Most participants strongly agreed or agreed that the length was adequate (80.7%), that the information presented was very helpful (100%), that the video could be useful for the Latina community (96.8%), and that they would share the video with women at-risk of HBOC (100%). The highest endorsed channels for dissemination were Facebook (90.3) and YouTube (87.1%). The highest endorsed settings were community centers (100%), churches (96.8%), and hospitals (80.6%). Most participants (90.3%) considered that the best context to watch the video would be with relatives, followed by watching with other women at-risk of HBOC (71.0%), friends (71.0%), and lastly by oneself (41.9%) DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This study represents a multidisciplinary approach to intervention development that aims to reduce well-documented knowledge gaps and disparities in the use of GCRA among at-risk Latinas. A culturally targeted video has the potential to reach underserved populations with low literacy and English proficiency and it can be widely disseminated. The video was well received by community health workers who reported high acceptability. These findings are promising given that community health workers could play a key role in the dissemination of the video if it is proven to be efficacious.

scholarly journals Design of Mobile Application for Community Health Workers: A Case Study in Rwanda

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Gahizi Emmanuel ◽  
Andi Wahju Rahardjo Emanuel ◽  
Djoko Budiyanto Setyohadi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Adequate Knowledge

Community health workers (CHWs) are the basis of public health services that aim to connect the gap between public health and the human service system. This gap can be completely bridged by navigating the health and human service systems and educating communities on disease prevention. Unfortunately, the way of sharing, accessing information, and delivering health services is still non-digitalized in Rwanda. Community Health workers use a manual system in their daily activities, which is prone to error and falsification. Moreover, these people selected to perform these activities often do not have adequate knowledge about diseases and health systems since they are not professional health workers. To address the above problem, we designed a prototype mobile application to enable these workers to automatically submit reports, transfer knowledge, share information, and receive training from professionals.  The design process followed a User-Centered Design approach to meet the users’ requirements. The evaluation of the design showed that 91.7% of the CHWs agreed with the designed application prototype.  This finding shows that CHWs has an interest in using the mobile application in their work. Using the mobile application will help CHWs to improve data collection, the reporting process, and ease of receiving training.

scholarly journals Not a duty but an opportunity: exploring the lived experiences of community health workers in Indiana through photovoice

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan I. Logan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Prevention ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health Care Workforce

Few studies have conducted photovoice projects to explore themes related to the lived experiences of community health workers (CHWs). As a relatively unknown segment of the health care workforce in the United States, CHWs are typically members of the communities they work within and fulfill unique and complementary roles through health education, health prevention, community outreach, and advocacy. This article documents a photovoice project that assessed the strengths, challenges, impacts, and what it means to be a CHW in Indiana. In this project, CHWs participated in the method of photovoice in two formal meetings – one to introduce the method and another to analyze the photographs. Participants displayed photographs, interpreted these images, and co-constructed their lived experiences. Several key themes emerged from discussion of the photographs including: participant descriptions of building individual and character traits, conceptualizations of this position, and how participants connect disparate resources for their clients. Themes and findings from this research can be utilized to reach out to potential employers and policy makers regarding the integration of CHWs into the workforce. Overall, this project documents the lived experiences of CHWs and highlights their voices as they become an accepted member within the broader workforce.

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 for pandemic response: a rapid evidence synthesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. e002769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumyadeep Bhaumik ◽  
Sandeep Moola ◽  
Jyoti Tyagi ◽  
Devaki Nambiar ◽  
Misimi Kakoti
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Housing Allowance ◽  
Role Clarity ◽  
Pandemic Response

IntroductionCoronavirus disease (COVID-19), affects 213 countries or territories globally. We received a request from National Health Systems Resource Centre, a public agency in India, to conduct rapid evidence synthesis (RES) on community health workers (CHWs) for COVID-19 prevention and control in 3 days.MethodsWe searched PubMed, websites of ministries (n=3), public agencies (n=6), multilateral institutions (n=3), COVID-19 resource aggregators (n=5) and preprints (n=1) (without language restrictions) for articles on CHWs in pandemics. Two reviewers screened the records independently with a third reviewer resolving disagreements. One reviewer extracted data with another reviewer cross-checking it. A framework on CHW performance in primary healthcare not specific to pandemic was used to guide data extraction and narrative analysis.ResultsWe retrieved 211 records and finally included 36 articles. Most of the evidence was from low-and middle-income countries with well-established CHW programmes. Evidence from CHW programmes initiated during pandemics and for CHW involvement in pandemic response in high-income countries was scant. CHW roles and tasks change substantially during pandemics. Clear guidance, training for changed roles and definition of what constitutes essential activities (ie, those that must to be sustained) is required. Most common additional activities during pandemics were community awareness, engagement and sensitisation (including for countering stigma) and contact tracing. CHWs were reported to be involved in all aspects of contact tracing - this was reported to affect routine service delivery. CHWs have often been stigmatised or been socially ostracised during pandemics. Providing PPE, housing allowance, equal training opportunities, transportation allowance, improving salaries (paid on time and for a broad range of services) and awards in high-profile public events contributed to better recruitment and retention. We also created inventories of resources with guiding notes on guidelines for health workers (n=24), self-isolation in the community (n=10) and information, education and counselling materials on COVID-19 (n=16).ConclusionsCHWs play a critical role in pandemics. It is important to ensure role clarity, training, supportive supervision, as well as their work satisfaction, health and well-being. More implementation research on CHWs in pandemics is required.

scholarly journals KNOWLEDGE, MOTIVATION, TRAINING AMONG VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Achmad Farich ◽  
Dewi Kusumaningsih ◽  
Sosya Mona Seprianti
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
P Value ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Public Health Centre ◽  
Intensive Training

Background: Integrated Service Post (Posyandu) is one form of community based health efforts which is managed and implemented by volunteer community health workers. That performance is very important to monitor the toddlers. The coverage of toddlers weighed at Ngaras at public health Service has decreased by 2014 reached of 87.0% in 2015 reached of 100.4% in 2016 reached of 64.0% but in 2017 it only reached of 68,2%.Purpose: To know the correlation of knowledge, motivation, training among volunteer community health workers at public health services West Pesisir Province of Lampung  2018.Methods: Quantitative research type with cross sectional design and population recruited  all of volunteer community health workers. Data collected by using questionnaire sheets. Analysis of data used univariate and bivariate (Chi Square).Results: The results showed that the volunteer community health workers have best performance with number of 45 volunteers (69,2%) comparing with who has a poor performance with number of 20 volunteer (30,8%). Based on bivariate analysis following in several parts of the volunteer such as knowledge with  p-value of 0,001 OR 4,889 (1,5 to 15,3 95% CI), motivation with p-value 0,034 OR 3,778 (1,2 to 11,4 95% CI), and the training with p-value 0,009 OR 5,429 (1,6 to 17,8 95% CI).Conclusion: There is a relation of knowledge, motivation and training for the performance of volunteer community health workers. It is suggested to management of public health centre on Ngaras to conduct more intensive training related to volunteer training which includes knowledge sharing which will improve on volunteer community health workers performance on task, and motivation to intensify duty of passion of volunteer community health workers

scholarly journals Feasibility and acceptability of computer based online certifcation program for frontline community health workers of Wardha district, India

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-85
Author(s):  
Manoj S Patil ◽  
Abhay M Gaidhane ◽  
Shital Telrandhe ◽  
Quazi Syed Zahiruddin ◽  
Navnita Jadhav
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Frontline Workers ◽  
Frontline Health Workers ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Health Experts ◽  
Strong Agreement

Background: In India, different types of Frontline Community Health Workers are recruited under different departments and health programmes. These include Anganwadi Workers (AWW) under ICDS, ASHA and ANMs under NRHM and health services. Training and recruitment of this staff cadre is an ongoing process. Most of the trainings are aimed at improving the knowledge and skills. A set of test is needed to assess the post training knowledge of trainees which should be feasible, acceptable and easy to administer. Team of Health Experts from DMIMSU, Wardha has developed such specifc Computer based online certifcation tests which were administered to selected Frontline Community Health Workers engaged with DMIMSU. This study was conducted to assess the feasibility and acceptability of these tests.Aims and Objectives: Team of Health Experts from DMIMSU,Wardha has developed specifc Computer based online certifcation tests which were administered to selected Frontline Community Health Workers engaged with DMIMSU. This study was conducted -1] To assess the feasibility and acceptability of Computer based online certifcation tests for frontline workers. 2] To assess the scope for generalization of these tests to entire frontline health cadre of the district.Materials and Methods: Data was collected from 30 randomly selected Frontline Health Workers who were engaged in Community Outreach Activities/Projects of DMIMS and had undergone trainings and Online Certifcation tests. Questionnaire with Likert type scoring scale was administered. Data was compiled in MS Excel and Weighted Means and proportions of responses towards agreement and disagreement were calculated.Results: Average Weighted Mean was 4.07 showing Strong Agreement towards the feasibility and acceptability. Only 10.3% participants showed disagreement towards the feasibility and acceptability of this test whereas 89.7% participants showed agreement and among them, 47.67% showed strong agreement towards the feasibility and acceptability of this test.Conclusion: These tests were found quite feasible and well accepted by Frontline Health Workers. Similar tests should be made compulsory for all Frontline Health Workers Cadre and their performance in tests should be linked to provisions of incentives and seniority benefits.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(2) 2017 82-85 

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