Taking stock of 10 years of published research on the ASHA programme: examining India's national community health worker programme from a health systems perspective.
Health Res Policy Syst
; 17(1): 29, 2019 Mar 25.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30909926
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
As India's accredited social health activist (ASHA) community health worker (CHW) programme enters its second decade, we take stock of the research undertaken and whether it examines the health systems interfaces required to sustain the programme at scale.METHODS:
We systematically searched three databases for articles on ASHAs published between 2005 and 2016. Articles that met the inclusion criteria underwent analysis using an inductive CHW-health systems interface framework.RESULTS:
A total of 122 academic articles were identified (56 quantitative, 29 mixed methods, 28 qualitative, and 9 commentary or synthesis); 44 articles reported on special interventions and 78 on the routine ASHA program. Findings on special interventions were overwhelmingly positive, with few negative or mixed results. In contrast, 55% of articles on the routine ASHA programme showed mixed findings and 23% negative, with few indicating overall positive findings, reflecting broader system constraints. Over half the articles had a health system perspective, including almost all those on general ASHA work, but only a third of those with a health condition focus. The most extensively researched health systems topics were ASHA performance, training and capacity-building, with very little research done on programme financing and reporting, ASHA grievance redressal or peer communication. Research tended to be descriptive, with fewer influence, explanatory or exploratory articles, and no predictive or emancipatory studies. Indian institutions and authors led and partnered on most of the research, wrote all the critical commentaries, and published more studies with negative results.CONCLUSION:
Published work on ASHAs highlights a range of small-scale innovations, but also showcases the challenges faced by a programme at massive scale, situated in the broader health system. As the programme continues to evolve, critical comparative research that constructively feeds back into programme reforms is needed, particularly related to governance, intersectoral linkages, ASHA solidarity, and community capacity to provide support and oversight.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Temas:
Atencao_primaria_forma_integrada
Contexto em Saúde:
10_ODS3_salud_sexual_reprodutiva
/
11_ODS3_cobertura_universal
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde
/
Agentes Comunitários de Saúde
/
Atenção à Saúde
/
Programas Governamentais
/
Programas Nacionais de Saúde
Tipo de estudo:
Evaluation_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Systematic_reviews
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Health Res Policy Syst
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article