Motivational interviewing experiences from a community health worker-led HIV prevention and care intervention in rural Uganda: a qualitative study.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly utilized in global settings to improve HIV outcomes, yet research exploring implementation strategies using MI and CHWs is lacking. We examined the experiences of CHWs and their clients in a counseling intervention which used MI-informed counseling to increase engagement in HIV prevention and treatment. This study was nested within the mLAKE cluster-randomized trial in a high HIV prevalence fishing community in rural Rakai District, Uganda. We conducted in-depth interviews with purposively-sampled CHWs (n = 8) and clients (n = 51). Transcripts were analyzed thematically to characterize CHWs' implementation of the intervention. Main themes identified included use of specific MI strategies (including evocation, guidance towards positive behavior change, active listening, and open-ended questions), and MI spirit (including collaboration, power-sharing, trust, and non-judgmental relationship building). Through these specific MI mechanisms, CHWs supported client behavior change to facilitate engagement with HIV services. This study provides evidence from a low-resource setting that CHWs with no previous experience in MI can successfully implement MI-informed counseling that is well-received by clients. CHW-led MI-informed counseling appears to be a feasible and effective approach to increase uptake of HIV prevention and care services in low-resource, HIV endemic regions.

An anthropological history of Nepal's Female Community Health Volunteer program: gender, policy, and social change.

BACKGROUND: Community health workers (CHWs) are central to Primary Health Care globally. Amidst the current flourishing of work on CHWs, there often is a lack of reference to history-even in studies of programs that have been around for decades. This study examines the 35-year trajectory of Nepal's Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs). METHODS: We conducted a content analysis of an archive of primary and secondary research materials, grey literature and government reports collected during 1977-2019 across several regions in Nepal. Documents were coded in MAXQDA using principles of inductive coding. As questions arose from the materials, data were triangulated with published sources. RESULTS: Looking across four decades of the program's history illuminates that issues of gender, workload, and pay-hotly debated in the CHW literature now-have been topics of discussion for observers and FCHVs alike since the inception of the program. Following experiments with predominantly male community volunteers during the 1970s, Nepal scaled up the all-female FCHV program in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in part because of programmatic goals focused on maternal and child health. FCHVs gained legitimacy as health workers in part through participation in donor-funded vertical campaigns. FCHVs received a stable yet modest regular stipend during the early years, but since it was stopped in the 1990s, incentives have been a mix of activity-based payments and in-kind support. With increasing outmigration of men from villages and growing work responsibilities for women, the opportunity cost of health volunteering increased. FCHVs started voicing their dissatisfaction with remuneration, which gave rise to labor movements starting in the 2010s. Government officials have not comprehensively responded to demands by FCHVs for decent work, instead questioning the relevance of FCHVs in a modern, medicalized Nepali health system. CONCLUSIONS: Across public health, an awareness of history is useful in understanding the present and avoiding past mistakes. These histories are often not well-archived, and risk getting lost. Lessons from the history of Nepal's FCHV program have much to offer present-day debates around CHW policies, particularly around gender, workload and payment.

Proof of concept of the Universal Baby video innovation for early child development in Lima, Peru.

OBJECTIVE: Community-based video interventions offer an effective and potentially scalable early interaction coaching tool for caregivers living in low resource settings. We tested the Universal Baby (UB) video innovation; an early interaction coaching tool using video sourced and produced locally with early child development (ECD) expert supervision. METHODS: This proof-of-concept study enrolled 40 caregivers of children ages 10-18 months assigned to intervention and control groups by health establishments in Carabayllo, Lima, Peru. Mother/child dyads received 12 weekly group health education sessions with social support. Of those, 16 caregivers also received 6 UB videos featuring brain science education and local clips of responsive, reciprocal interaction, also known as "serve and return" interaction. Survey data assessed feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. We assessed improved quality of mother/child interaction using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO). RESULTS: We found the program feasible. We successfully trained the local team to produce UB videos using locally-sourced footage and delivered the videos as part of a community-based intervention. We also found it to be acceptable in that participants enthusiastically received the UB videos, reporting they enjoyed being videotaped, and learned how to recognize and appropriately respond to their child's nuanced sounds and gestures. The median change in total PICCOLO scores favored the intervention group compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: UB offers great potential as a sustainable, potentially scalable, and culturally appropriate tool to promote equity for child development among young children living in low resource homes globally.

Cost-effectiveness of severe acute malnutrition treatment delivered by community health workers in the district of Mayahi, Niger.

BACKGROUND: A non-randomized controlled trial, conducted from June 2018 to March 2019 in two rural communes in the health district of Mayahi in Niger, showed that including community health workers (CHWs) in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) resulted in a better recovery rate (77.2% vs. 72.1%) compared with the standard treatment provided solely at the health centers. The present study aims to assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of the CHWs led treatment of uncomplicated SAM in children 6-59 months compared to the standard national protocol. METHODS: To account for all relevant costs, the cost analysis included activity-based costing and bottom-up approaches from a societal perspective and on a within-trial time horizon. The cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted through a decision analysis network built with OpenMarkov and evaluated under two approaches: (1) with recovery rate and cost per child admitted for treatment as measures of effectiveness and cost, respectively; and (2) assessing the total number of children recovered and the total cost incurred. In addition, a multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate the effect of uncertainty around the base case input data. RESULTS: For the base case data, the average cost per child recovered was 116.52 USD in the standard treatment and 107.22 USD in the CHWs-led treatment. Based on the first approach, the CHWs-led treatment was more cost-effective than the standard treatment with an average cost per child admitted for treatment of 82.81 USD vs. 84.01 USD. Based on the second approach, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of the transition from the standard to the CHWs-led treatment amounted to 98.01 USD per additional SAM case recovered. CONCLUSIONS: In the district of Mayahi in Niger, the CHWs-led SAM treatment was found to be cost-effective when compared to the standard protocol and provided additional advantages such as the reduction of costs for households. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN with ID 31143316. https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN31143316.

Overview of the participation of community health workers in primary health care in 6 Latin American countries and a proposal for their integration into the health system: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: According to some health programmes, implementing primary health care through community health workers (CHWs) facilitates the connection between community and health services in Latin America. However, these are isolated processes that face different obstacles and would benefit from an overview of the corresponding health policies and programmes. OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of CHW participation in 6 Latin American countries. METHODS: This exploratory qualitative study was based on 3 sources of information: a literature review, a review of public health policy documents, and interviews with experts who have led CHW programmes in 6 Latin American countries. RESULTS: The role of CHWs in Latin America and some advances in public health policies in the region were evidenced. However, limitations arising from variable implementation of the WHO guidelines on health programmes with CHWs were also apparent. CONCLUSIONS: CHWs contribute to the primary healthcare processes in the 6 Latin American countries studied in versatile and comprehensive ways. However, they constitute an underutilized human resource because they must provide various services that are not always relevant in different work contexts. Therefore, we propose a classification of the CHW profile, using the level of access to healthcare services of the population they serve as the main differentiator. This way, CHWs will not have to provide a wide range of services but only those most relevant to the specific needs of each community.

Community health worker outreach to farmworkers in rural North Carolina: Learning from adaptations to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Community health workers represent a critical part of the health outreach and services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers ('farmworkers') in rural areas of the United States. PURPOSE: We sought to identify adaptations to farmworker patient engagement and health outreach made by community health workers during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we used semi-structured interviews with community health workers from August 2020 to February 2022 (n = 21). Two coders used thematic analysis to identify three themes related to the experiences of community health workers in conducting health education and outreach to farmworkers prior to and following the onset of the pandemic. FINDINGS: We found themes related to pre-pandemic outreach efforts to provide health education resource sharing with farmworkers and pandemic-related outreach efforts that included adoption of porch drops and distanced delivery of health education, adaptation of modes of health education and communication through technology and the internet, and taking on new roles related to COVID-19. Finally, we identified changes that reverted after the pandemic or will continue as adaptations. CONCLUSIONS: Community health workers created practice-based innovations in outreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These innovations included new COVID-19 related roles and new modes of health education and outreach, including the use of digital resources. The changes developed for emergency use in COVID-19, particularly related to internet and technology, have likely altered how community health workers conduct outreach in North Carolina going forward. Funders, community health worker training programs, and researchers should take note of these innovations. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Community health workers who typically come from patient populations and provide critical navigation and connection with the health care system advised on the design and creation of this research project, including serving on an advisory board. Two authors have experience working as community health workers.

The use and potential impact of digital health tools at the community level: results from a multi-country survey of community health workers.

BACKGROUND: Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly viewed as a critical workforce to address health system strengthening and sustainable development goals. Optimizing and widening the capacity of this workforce through digital technology is currently underway, though there is skepticism regarding CHWs' willingness and optimism to engage in digital health. We sought to understand CHWs' perceptions on the use of digital health tools in their work. METHODS: We obtained survey data from 1,141 CHWs from 28 countries with complete study information. We conducted regression analyses to explore the relationship between CHWs' training and perceived barriers to digital health access with current use of digital devices/tools and belief in digital impact while adjusting for demographic factors. RESULTS: Most of the CHWs worked in Kenya (n = 502, 44%) followed by the Philippines (n = 308, 27%), Ghana (n = 107, 9.4%), and the United States (n = 70, 6.1%). There were significant, positive associations between digital tools training and digital device/tool use (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.92, 95% CI = 2.09-4.13) and belief in digital impact (AORhigh impact = 3.03, 95% CI = 2.04-4.49). CHWs were significantly less likely to use digital devices for their work if they identified cost as a perceived barrier (AORmobile service cost = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.49-0.95; AORphone/device cost = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47-0.92). CHWs who were optimistic about digital health, were early adopters of technology in their personal lives, and found great value in their work believed digital health helped them to have greater impact. Older age and greater tenure were associated with digital device/tool use and belief in digital impact, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CHWs are not an obstacle to digital health adoption or use. CHWs believe that digital tools can help them have more impact in their communities regardless of perceived barriers. However, cost is a barrier to digital device/tool use; potential solutions to cost constraints of technological access will benefit from further exploration of reimbursement models. Digital health tools have the potential to increase CHW capacity and shape the future of community health work.

Examining the referral of patients with elevated blood pressure to health resources in an under-resourced community in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Low-and-middle income countries face a disproportionate burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that threaten to overwhelm under-resourced health systems. Community health workers (CHWs) can promote NCD prevention, reach patients, and connect them to local community health resources; however, little has been done to examine how referrals to these resources are utilized by community members. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of referrals to community-based health resources and investigate the factors influencing patient utilization of referrals connecting them to appropriate health resources for elevated blood pressure (BP). METHODS: CHWs conducted home visits, which included BP screening and brief counseling, with community members in Soweto, South Africa. Participants with elevated (systolic BP: 121-139/ diastolic BP: 81-89 mmHg) or high (≥ 140/90 mmHg) BP were referred to either a local, community-based physical activity (PA) program managed by a non-governmental organization or local health clinics. The number of participants that received and utilized their referrals was tracked. Follow-up interviews were conducted with individuals given a referral who: (1) went to the PA program, (2) did not go to the PA program, (3) went to a clinic, and (4) did not go to a clinic. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify common themes and differences between groups regarding their decisions to utilize the referrals. RESULTS: CHWs visited 1056 homes, with 1001 community members consenting to the screening; 29.2% (n = 292) of adults were classified as having optimal BP (≤120/80 mmHg), 35.8% (n = 359) had elevated BP, and 35.0% (n = 350) had high BP. One hundred and seventy-three participants accepted a referral to the PA program with 46 (26.6%) enrolling. Five themes emerged from the interviews: (1) prior knowledge and thoughts on BP, (2) psychosocial factors associated with BP control, (3) perception about receiving the referral, (4) contextual factors influencing referral utilization, and (5) perceived benefits of utilizing the referral. CONCLUSION: CHWs can successfully increase community members' access to health resources by providing appropriate referrals. However, greater attention needs to address community members' barriers and hesitancy to utilize health resources.

Opening up the 'black-box': what strategies do community mental health workers use to address the social dimensions of mental health?

PURPOSE: Community-based workers promote mental health in communities. Recent literature has called for more attention to the ways they operate and the strategies used. For example, how do they translate biomedical concepts into frameworks that are acceptable and accessible to communities? How do micro-innovations lead to positive mental health outcomes, including social inclusion and recovery? The aim of this study was to examine the types of skills and strategies to address social dimensions of mental health used by community health workers (CHWs) working together with people with psychosocial disability (PPSD) in urban north India. METHODS: We interviewed CHWs (n = 46) about their registered PPSD who were randomly selected from 1000 people registered with a local non-profit community mental health provider. Notes taken during interviews were cross-checked with audio recordings and coded and analyzed thematically. RESULTS: CHWs displayed social, cultural, and psychological skills in forming trusting relationships and in-depth knowledge of the context of their client's lives and family dynamics. They used this information to analyze political, social, and economic factors influencing mental health for the client and their family members. The diverse range of analysis and intervention skills of community health workers built on contextual knowledge to implement micro-innovations in a be-spoke way, applying these to the local ecology of people with psychosocial disabilities (PPSD). These approaches contributed to addressing the social and structural determinants that shaped the mental health of PPSD. CONCLUSION: Community health workers (CHWs) in this study addressed social aspects of mental health, individually, and by engaging with wider structural factors. The micro-innovations of CHWs are dependent on non-linear elements, including local knowledge, time, and relationships. Global mental health requires further attentive qualitative research to consider how these, and other factors shape the work of CHWs in different locales to inform locally appropriate mental health care.

Prospects for the development of community-based care in remote rural areas: a stakeholder analysis in Laos.

BACKGROUND: Community-based health programmes have been a cornerstone of primary care in Laos for decades. The study presented here aimed to document prospects for the development of current programmes, considering perceptions about health and health care priorities in the communities, implementation challenges, the policy landscape and opportunities associated with the availability of new technologies. METHODS: The research design primarily involved qualitative in-depth interviews with stakeholders (n = 35) responsible for the planning, management, or implementation of community-based care in Laos at different levels of the health system. These included health managers at central departments or institutes of the Ministry of Health, provincial health departments, district health offices, heads of health centres, village health volunteers, community representatives, and international stakeholders. RESULTS: There was consensus that service delivery is still a challenge in many areas, due to geographic inaccessibility of health facilities, communication barriers, health-seeking behaviour, trust, and gender discrimination, particularly among ethnic minorities. In these settings, community health workers have the potential to extend the reach of the formal health system, acting as cultural brokers across sectors of society, ethnicities, and worldviews. To maximise impact, planners need to carefully consider the implementation model, financing arrangements, health system integration, and changing health priorities in the communities. CONCLUSIONS: This study examined challenges to, and opportunities for, the expansion and health system integration of community-based care in Laos. Further development and horizontal integration of community-based care remains a complex financing and governance challenge, although the renewed emphasis on primary care and the ongoing process of decentralisation provide a favourable policy environment in the country to sustain and potentially expand existing programmes.

Formative research to adapt the 'Diabetes Prevention Program- Power to Prevent' for implementation in Bamako, Mali.

BACKGROUND: There are few community-level behaviors change interventions for reducing diabetes and hypertension risk in Africa, despite increasing cases of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, this study was designed to adapt the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Diabetes Prevention Program Power to Prevent" (DPP-P2P) for use in low-income urban communities of Bamako, Mali. METHODS: Feedback was elicited on an initial French PowerPoint adaptation of the DPP-P2P session guidelines from stakeholders at the ministry of health, organizational partners, and medical care providers. Two community health centers in districts with high levels of diabetes or hypertension were selected to assist in developing the Malian adaptation. Focus groups were conducted with 19 community health workers (CHWs) of these centers. Based on feedback from these discussions, more graphics, demonstrations, and role plays were added to the PowerPoint presentations. The 19 CHWs piloted the proposed 12 sessions with 45 persons with diabetes or at-risk patients over a one-month period. Feedback discussions were conducted after each session, and changes in dietary and exercise habits were assessed pre and post participation in the program. This feedback contributed to finalization of a 14-session sequence. RESULTS: The DPP-P2P session guidelines were adapted for use by low-literacy CHWs, converting the written English guidelines into French PowerPoint presentations with extensive use of pictures, role plays and group discussions to introduce diabetes, diet, and exercise concepts appropriately for the Bamako context. CHWs recommendations for a strong family-oriented program led to expanded sessions on eliciting support from all adults in the household. The 45 participants in the pilot adaptation were enthusiastic about the program. At the end of the program, there were significant increases in the frequency of daily exercise, efforts to limit fat intake, and goals for more healthy diets and exercise levels. CONCLUSION: This study documents how an iterative process of developing the DPP-P2P adaptation led to the development of a culturally appropriate set of materials welcomed by participants and having promise for reaching the low-income, low-literacy population with or at risk for diabetes in Bamako, Mali.

Mixed method evaluation of a learning from excellence programme for community health workers in Neno, Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Community Health Workers (CHWs) play an essential role in linking communities to facility-based healthcare. However, CHW programmes have often been hampered by low levels of staff motivation, and new tools aimed at improving staff motivation and work environment are needed. One such intervention is the "Learning from Excellence" (LfE) programme. We aimed to assess feasibility, outputs, and impact of a co-designed LfE programme on CHW motivation, in Neno District. METHODS: We conducted a convergent mixed-method evaluation of the LfE programme. Co-design of the programme and forms took place between October 2019 and January 2020. LfE forms submitted between September and November 2020 were analysed using descriptive statistics and memos summarising answers to the open-ended question. To investigate experiences with LfE we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, CHWs, and site supervisors, which were analysed thematically. A pre-post intervention questionnaire was developed to assess the impact of the co-designed LfE intervention on CHW motivation and perceived supervision. Outcomes were triangulated into a logic model. RESULTS: In total 555 LfE forms were submitted, with 34.4% of CHWs in Neno District submitting at least one LfE report. Four themes were identified in the interviews: LfE implementation processes, experience, consequences, and recommendations. A total of 50 CHWs participated in the questionnaire in January 2020 and 46 of them completed the questionnaire in December 2020. No statistically significant differences were identified between pre-and post-LfE measurements for both motivation (Site F: p = 0.86; Site G: p = 0.31) and perceived supervision (Site F: p = 0.95; Site G: p = 0.45). A logic model, explaining how the LfE programme could impact CHWs was developed. CONCLUSIONS: Many CHWs participated in the LfE intervention between September 2020 and November 2020. LfE was welcomed by CHWs and stakeholders as it allowed them to appreciate excellent work in absence of other opportunities to do so. However, no statistically significant differences in CHW motivation and perceived supervision were identified. While the intervention was feasible in Neno District, we identified several barriers and facilitators for implementation. We developed a logic model to explain contextual factors, and mechanisms that could lead to LfE outcomes for CHWs in Neno District. The developed logic model can be used by those designing and implementing interventions like LfE for health workers.

Financing Thresholds for Sustainability of Community Health Worker Programs for Patients Receiving Medicaid Across the United States.

States have turned to novel Medicaid financing to pay for community health worker (CHW) programs, often through fee-for-service or capitated payments. We sought to estimate Medicaid payment rates to ensure CHW program sustainability. A microsimulation model was constructed to estimate CHW salaries, equipment, transportation, space, and benefits costs across the U.S. Fee-for-service rates per 30-min CHW visit (code 98960) and capitated rates were calculated for financial sustainability. The mean CHW hourly wage was $23.51, varying from $15.90 in Puerto Rico to $31.61 in Rhode Island. Overhead per work hour averaged $43.65 nationwide, and was highest for transportation among other overhead categories (65.1% of overhead). The minimum fee-for-service rate for a 30-min visit was $53.24 (95% CI $24.80, $91.11), varying from $40.44 in South Dakota to $70.89 in Washington D.C. The minimum capitated rate was $140.18 per member per month (95% CI $105.94, $260.90), varying from $113.55 in South Dakota to $176.58 in Washington D.C. Rates varied minimally by metro status but more by panel size. Higher Medicaid fee-for-service and capitated rates than currently used may be needed to support financial viability of CHW programs. A revised payment estimation approach may help state officials, health systems and plans discussing CHW program sustainability.

A Review of Community Health Worker Integration in Health Departments.

Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline public health workers who bridge the gap between historically marginalized communities, healthcare, and social services. Increasingly, states are developing the CHW workforce by implementing training and certification policies. Health departments (HDs) are primarily responsible for community health through policy implementation and provision of public health services. The two objectives of this study are to explore: (1) state progress in establishing CHW training and certification policies, and (2) integration of CHWs in HD workforces. In this scoping review, we searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar for articles published between 2012 and 2022. We looked for articles that discussed state-level certification and training for CHWs and those covering CHWs working with and for city, county, state, and federal HDs. We excluded studies set outside of the US or published in a language other than English. Twenty-nine studies were included for review, documenting CHWs working at all levels of HDs. Within the included studies, HDs often partner with organizations that employ CHWs. With HD-sponsored programs, CHWs increased preventative care, decreased healthcare costs, and decreased disease risk in their communities. Almost all states have begun developing CHW training and certification policies and are at various points in the implementation. HD-sponsored CHW programs improved the health of marginalized communities, whether CHWs were employed directly by HDs or by a partner organization. The success of HD-sponsored CHW programs and state efforts around CHW training and certification should encourage increased investment in CHW workforce development within public health.

Mapping and analysing community health worker programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

BACKGROUND: Community health worker (CHW) programmes are increasingly being recognized as an important strategy that can help to strengthen comprehensive primary health care (PHC), as the foundation of work towards achieving universal health care (UHC) and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean undertook a situational analysis of CHW programmes in the Region to better understand the current situation and the issues involved. METHODS: A two-step process was employed: a review of available literature on CHWs in the Region was conducted, followed by a survey of CHW programmes in the region, focussing on programmes that were country-led and country-wide. RESULTS: Thirteen countries were found to have community health worker programmes with varying governance and programmatic structures. Broadly, two categories can be distinguished: (a) several countries have well established and mature national CHW programmes that are in most cases supported by external donors but driven and coordinated by national governments; (b) a greater number of countries that have smaller, emerging government or partner led projects and programmes. A few countries have deliberately opted for other models to strengthen primary care and community outreach, for example, through community nursing. CONCLUSION: CHW programmes play an increasingly important role in primary health care in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, providing promotive, preventive, and emergency services. This bodes well for efforts to strengthen and embed comprehensive primary health care as the foundation of national health systems, to improve health emergency preparedness, achieve UHC and meet the SDGs. Nonetheless, all but a few programmes face challenges of weak governance, fragmentation and unreliable support, similar to those in other countries. However, the main finding of the analysis was that the role of CHWs in countries' health service delivery is woefully under-researched in almost all countries in the region, and more research to better understand and support programmes in the context of local health system contexts is urgently needed.

Facilitators and barriers to implementing complex community-based interventions for addressing acute malnutrition in low- and lower-middle income countries: A scoping review.

Background: Community-based nutrition interventions have been established as the standard of care for identifying and treating acute malnutrition among children 6-59 months in low- and lower-middle-income countries. However, limited research has examined the factors that influence the implementation of the community-based component of interventions that address severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition among children. Aim: The objective of this review was to identify and describe the facilitators and barriers in implementing complex community-based nutrition interventions to address acute malnutrition among children in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Methods: This review used a systematic search strategy to identify existing peer-reviewed literature from three databases on complex community-based interventions (defined as including active surveillance, treatment, and education in community settings) to address severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition in children. Results: In total, 1771 sources were retrieved from peer-reviewed databases, with 38 sources included in the review, covering 26 different interventions. Through an iterative deductive and inductive analysis approach, three main domains (household and interpersonal, sociocultural and geographical; operational and administrative) and eight mechanisms were classified, which were central to the successful implementation of complex community-based interventions to address acute child malnutrition. Conclusion: Overall, this review highlights the importance of addressing contextual and geographical challenges to support participant access and program operations. There is a need to critically examine program design and structure to promote intervention adherence and effectiveness. In addition, there is an opportunity to direct resources towards community health workers to facilitate long-term community trust and engagement.

Efficacy of Community Health Worker-Delivered Family Health History-Based Breast Cancer Education and Services Among Chinese Americans.

Family health history (FHH) is an evidence-based genomics tool used in cancer prevention and education. Chinese Americans, the largest Asian American group, face unique barriers in FHH collection and communication. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of culturally and linguistically appropriate community health worker (CHW)-delivered FHH-based breast cancer (BC) education and services to Chinese Americans. A total of 1129 Chinese Americans received FHH-based BC education and service delivered by our trained Chinese American CHWs. Participants responded to evaluation surveys before, immediately after, and 3 months after the education and service. Participating Chinese Americans showed significant increases in rates of collecting FHH of BC, discussing FHH of BC with family members, informing their primary care physicians of their FHH of BC, and discussing their FHH of BC with their primary care physicians at 3 months post-education and service compared to the baseline data (all Ps < 0.01). Attitudes, intention, and self-efficacy related to FHH of BC communication and collection and FHH of BC knowledge were improved both immediately after and 3 months after the delivery of the education and services (all Ps < 0.01). Within 3 months, ~ 14.3% of participants who had a high risk of BC based on FHH reported visiting geneticists for genetic evaluation. Our Chinese American CHW-delivered FHH-based BC education and services showed initial success in increasing knowledge, collection and communication of BC-related FHH, and genetic service utilization among Chinese American participants. This study can serve as a starting point for conducting more robust studies, such as randomized controlled trials, in the future.

Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry in screening children for dental caries by community health workers in a lower-middle-income country.

BACKGROUND: Tele-dentistry can be useful for dental caries screening of children, especially in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mobile phone photographs taken by a community health worker (CHW) for caries detection in Iran. DESIGN: Children aged 6-12 years were visually examined by a paediatric dentist. Following dental examinations, intraoral photographs were taken by a trained CHW. Two remote dentists assessed intraoral photographs for dental caries. Diagnostic accuracy of tele-dentistry for caries detection was evaluated. In addition, the questionnaire about oral health and parents' views towards tele-dentistry was prepared. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-one children aged 8.74 ± 1.62 years participated. The caries prevalence was 30% for the whole dentition. Tele-dentistry demonstrated high accuracy, with a sensitivity exceeding 80% and specificity exceeding 90%. The inter-rater reliability for remote dentists' assessments to the gold standard dental examination ranged from substantial to almost perfect (kappa: 75%-93%). Additionally, 80% of parents whose children participated in this study had positive views towards tele-dentistry. CONCLUSION: Tele-dentistry was shown to be an alternative approach to clinical examinations for caries detection among school children. Employing non-dental care professionals in tele-dentistry has been emerged as a reliable and cost-effective approach, especially in LMICs.

Building Local Capacity in a Low-Resource Setting to Increase Access to Health Care: An Evaluation of Blood Pressure Monitoring Training.

Cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension are common and largely uncontrolled in Malawi. In this low-resource setting, Community Health Workers (CHWs) can increase access to home-based blood pressure (BP) monitoring. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a CHW training focused on BP monitoring and referral criteria, as well as the accuracy of referral decision-making and documentation. The participants were a purposive sample of all active home-based palliative care CHWs at St. Gabriel's Hospital (n = 60) located in Namitete, Malawi, serving over 250,000 people within a 50 km radius. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in December 2020 using both quantitative (descriptive, paired t-test) and qualitative (thematic) analysis. Participants showed significantly greater knowledge on the post-test (M = 8.98, SD = 1.213) compared to the pretest (M = 7.96, SD = 1.231), t (54)-5.0557.475, p < .001. All participants who attended both days of training demonstrated competency on a skills checklist in 100% of the rehabilitation and BP monitoring skills taught. Through document analysis of record books, referral decisions for patients with hypertension were 87.57% accurate and 81.07% of entries (n = 713) were complete. Participants reported the lack of both transportation and equipment as barriers to their work. They reported trainings, supplies, and support from the hospital as facilitators to their work. This study shows that BP can be monitored in remote villages, accurate referrals can be made, and stroke prevention education can be provided. These interventions increase the chances of more equitable care for this vulnerable population in a resource-limited setting.

Community Health Worker Integration with and Effectiveness in Health Care and Public Health in the United States.

Community health workers (CHWs) have worked in a variety of settings in the United States for more than 70 years and are increasingly recognized as an essential health workforce. CHWs share life experience with the people they serve and have firsthand knowledge of the causes and impacts of health inequity. They provide a critical link between marginalized communities and health care and public health services. Several studies have demonstrated that CHWs can improve the management of chronic conditions, increase access to preventive care, improve patients' experience of care, and reduce health care costs. CHWs can also advance health equity by addressing social needs and advocating for systems and policy change. This review provides a history of CHW integration with health care in the United States; describes evidence of the impact of CHW programs on population health, experience, costs of care, and health equity; and identifies considerations for CHW program expansion.