Operationalizing Community Health Worker Interventions

"A number of reviews on the subject have tried to examine evidence to improve the operationalization of interventions by CHWs [community health workers], including for child health. Lehmann et al. (Reference x1) and Lewin et al. (Reference x1) have reviewed evidence on CHW interventions in LMIC [low-middle income countries] and Haines et al. (Reference x1) have particularly so for child health. Lewin et al. (Reference x1) found lay health workers to be effective in specific areas in child health, when compared to usual care. Haines et al. (Reference x1) highlight the contextual nature of CHW's performance. Both caution that CHW interventions are not the panacea for all that ails the health systems in LMIC and that large scale CHW programmes should be initiated with great caution. Both raise questions about the applicability of findings to different settings and about the conditions under which CHW interventions should be implemented." [27 (link)]