Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All”
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...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Health Research Policy and Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-021-00755-5 |
| _version_ | 1831788380759785472 |
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| author | Henry B. Perry Mushtaque Chowdhury Miriam Were Karen LeBan Lauren Crigler Simon Lewin David Musoke Maryse Kok Kerry Scott Madeleine Ballard Steve Hodgins |
| author_facet | Henry B. Perry Mushtaque Chowdhury Miriam Were Karen LeBan Lauren Crigler Simon Lewin David Musoke Maryse Kok Kerry Scott Madeleine Ballard Steve Hodgins |
| author_sort | Henry B. Perry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:48:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c970227512c4c98b20a9325ee76ff37 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1478-4505 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:48:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Research Policy and Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c970227512c4c98b20a9325ee76ff372022-12-21T18:23:44ZengBMCHealth Research Policy and Systems1478-45052021-10-0119S312110.1186/s12961-021-00755-5Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All”Henry B. Perry0Mushtaque Chowdhury1Miriam Were2Karen LeBan3Lauren Crigler4Simon Lewin5David Musoke6Maryse Kok7Kerry Scott8Madeleine Ballard9Steve Hodgins10Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthBRAC UniversityUZIMA FoundationIndependent ConsultantCrigler Consulting, LLCNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway and Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research CouncilDepartment of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere UniversityDepartment of Global Health, KIT Royal Tropical InstituteDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthCommunity Health Impact CoalitionSchool of Public Health, University of AlbertaAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-021-00755-5Community health workersCommunity health worker programmesLay health workersCommunity-based primary healthcarePrimary healthcareSustainable development goals |
| spellingShingle | Henry B. Perry Mushtaque Chowdhury Miriam Were Karen LeBan Lauren Crigler Simon Lewin David Musoke Maryse Kok Kerry Scott Madeleine Ballard Steve Hodgins Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” Health Research Policy and Systems Community health workers Community health worker programmes Lay health workers Community-based primary healthcare Primary healthcare Sustainable development goals |
| title | Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” |
| title_full | Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” |
| title_fullStr | Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” |
| title_short | Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 11. CHWs leading the way to “Health for All” |
| title_sort | community health workers at the dawn of a new era 11 chws leading the way to health for all |
| topic | Community health workers Community health worker programmes Lay health workers Community-based primary healthcare Primary healthcare Sustainable development goals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-021-00755-5 |
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