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Hirschhorn LR, Govender I, Zulu JM. Community health workers: essential in ensuring primary health care for equitable universal health coverage, but more knowledge and action is needed. BMC PRIMARY CARE 2023; 24:219. [PMID: 37880575 PMCID: PMC10599034 DOI: 10.1186/s12875-023-02175-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023]
Abstract
Community health workers (CHWs) have helped improve access to quality primary health care (PHC). However, knowledge gaps exist in designing and implementing CHW-engaged models needed to ensure quality people-centered PHC. In this collection, we call for papers which bridge this knowledge gap, to build sustainable, resilient and equitable CHW programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa R Hirschhorn
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Havey Institute for Global Health, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Indiran Govender
- Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng Province, South Africa
| | - Joseph M Zulu
- School of Public Health, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
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Okitawutshu J, Signorell A, Kalenga JC, Mukomena E, Delvento G, Burri C, Mwaluke F, Buj V, Sangare M, Luketa S, Brunner N, Lee T, Hetzel M, Lengeler C, Tshefu A. Key factors predicting suspected severe malaria case management and health outcomes: an operational study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Malar J 2022; 21:274. [PMID: 36167567 PMCID: PMC9513903 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-022-04296-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Evidence suggests that pre-referral Rectal Artesunate (RAS) can be a life-saving intervention for severe malaria in remote settings in Africa. Recognition of danger signs indicative of severe malaria is critical for prompt and appropriate case management. Methods This was an observational study conducted in three Health Zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to determine the distribution of dangers signs for severe malaria and assess their impact on RAS use, referral completion, injectable treatment and ACT provision, and health outcomes including death. An individual-level analysis was carried out, using multilevel-mixed effects logistic regression models. Severely ill febrile children < 5 years seeking care from community-based healthcare providers were recruited into a patient surveillance system based on the presence of key danger signs. Clinical and case management data were collected comprehensively over a 28 days period. Treatment seeking was elicited and health outcomes assessed during 28 days home visits. Results Overall, 66.4% of patients had iCCM general danger signs. Age of 2–5 years and iCCM general danger signs predicted RAS use (aOR = 2.77, 95% CI 2.04–3.77). RAS administration positively affected referral completion (aOR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.44–0.92). After RAS rollout, 161 children died (case fatality ratio: 7.1%, 95% CI 6.1–8.2). RAS improved the health status of the children on Day 28 (aOR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.45–0.92) and there was a non-significant trend that mortality was higher in children not receiving RAS (aOR = 1.50, 95% CI 0.86–2.60). Full severe malaria treatment at the RHF including injectable anti-malarial and a course of ACT was highly protective against death (aOR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.09–0.79). Conclusions The main findings point towards the fact that danger signs are reasonably well recognized by health provider at the primary care level, and that RAS could influence positively health outcomes of such severe disease episodes and death. Its effectiveness is hampered by the insufficient quality of care at RHF, especially the provision of a full course of ACT following parenteral treatment. These are simple but important findings that requires urgent action by the health system planners and implementers. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12936-022-04296-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Okitawutshu
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland. .,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. .,Kinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
| | - Aita Signorell
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Claude Kalenga
- Kinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Eric Mukomena
- School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Giulia Delvento
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Burri
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Fatou Mwaluke
- Clinton Health Access Initiative, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | | | | | | | - Nina Brunner
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tristan Lee
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Manuel Hetzel
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Lengeler
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Antoinette Tshefu
- Kinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
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White E, Mendin S, Kolubah FR, Karlay R, Grant B, Jacobs GP, Subah M, Siedner MJ, Kraemer JD, Hirschhorn LR. Impact of the Liberian National Community Health Assistant Program on childhood illness care in Grand Bassa County, Liberia. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 2:e0000668. [PMID: 36962465 PMCID: PMC10021826 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Liberia launched its National Community Health Assistant Program in 2016, which seeks to ensure that all people living 5 kilometers or farther from a health facility have access to trained, supplied, supervised, and paid community health workers (CHWs). This study aims to evaluate the impact of the national program following implementation in Grand Bassa County in 2018 using data from population-based surveys that included information on 1291 illness episodes. We measured before-to-after changes in care for childhood illness by qualified providers in a portion of the county that implemented in a first phase compared to those which had not yet implemented. We also assessed changes in whether children received oral rehydration therapy for diarrhea and malaria rapid diagnostic tests if they had a fever by a qualified provider (facility based or CHW). For these analyses, we used a difference-in-differences approach and adjusted for potential confounding using inverse probability of treatment weighting. We also assessed changes in the source from which care was received and examined changes by key dimensions of equity (distance from health facilities, maternal education, and household wealth). We found that care of childhood illness by a qualified provider increased by 60.3 percentage points (95%CI 44.7-76.0) more in intervention than comparison areas. Difference-in-differences for oral rehydration therapy and malaria rapid diagnostic tests were 37.6 (95%CI 19.5-55.8) and 38.5 (95%CI 19.9-57.0) percentage points, respectively. In intervention areas, care by a CHW increased from 0 to 81.6% and care from unqualified providers dropped. Increases in care by a qualified provider did not vary significantly by household wealth, remoteness, or maternal education. This evaluation found evidence that the Liberian National Community Health Assistant Program has increased access to effective care in rural Grand Bassa County. Improvements were approximately equal across three measured dimensions of marginalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily White
- Last Mile Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Mark J Siedner
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - John D Kraemer
- Department of Health Systems Administration, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Lisa R Hirschhorn
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
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Warren CE, Bellows B, Marcus R, Downey J, Kennedy S, Kureshy N. Strength in Diversity: Integrating Community in Primary Health Care to Advance Universal Health Coverage. GLOBAL HEALTH, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2021; 9:S1-S5. [PMID: 33727314 PMCID: PMC7971373 DOI: 10.9745/ghsp-d-21-00125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The supplement highlights a systems approach that recognizes the communities' roles and their interactions with other health system actors to accelerate outcomes and reflect the diversity of the community health ecosystem. Several cross-cutting priorities emerge from the articles, namely coverage, community health financing, policy change, institutionalization, resilience, accountability, community engagement, and whole-of-society efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rachel Marcus
- U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | | | - Nazo Kureshy
- Social Solutions International, supporting U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, USA
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