A new resource for developing and strengthening large-scale community health worker programs.
Large-scale community health worker programs are now growing in importance around the world in response to the resurgence of interest and growing evidence of the importance of community-based primary health care for improving the health of populations in resource-constrained, high-mortality settings. These programs, because of their scale and operational challenges, merit special consideration by the global health community, national policy-makers, and program implementers. A new online resource is now available to assist in that effort: Developing and Strengthening Community Health Worker Programs at Scale: A Reference Guide and Case Studies for Program Managers and Policymakers ( http://www.mchip.net/CHWReferenceGuide ). This CHW Reference Guide is the product of 27 different collaborators who, collectively, have a formidable breadth and depth of experience and knowledge about CHW programming around the world. It provides a thoughtful discussion about the many operational issues that large-scale CHW programs need to address as they undergo the process of development, expansion or strengthening. Detailed case studies of 12 national CHW programs are included in the Appendix-the most current and complete cases studies as a group that are currently available. Future articles in this journal will highlight many of the themes in the CHW Reference Guide and provide an update of recent advances and experiences. These articles will serve, we hope, to (1) increase awareness about the CHW Reference Guide and its usefulness and (2) connect a broader audience to the critical importance of strengthening large-scale CHW programs for the health benefits that they can bring to underserved populations around the world.
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America. hperry2@jhu.edu.
Henry
0000-0003-0561-0492
H
Perry
Crigler Global Consulting, Durham, NC, United States of America.
Lauren
L
Crigler
Global Health Unit, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.|Health Systems Research Unit, Medical Research Council of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.
Simon
S
Lewin
Global Health Unit, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Claire
C
Glenton
The CORE Group, Washington, DC, United States of America.
Karen
K
LeBan
Saving Newborn Lives/Save the Children, Washington, DC, United States of America.
Steve
S
Hodgins
D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D003150:Community Health Workers; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D016730:Program Development
Community health; Community health workers; Community-based primary health care; Primary health care