Strengthening the performance of community health workers in primary health care. Report of a WHO Study Group
World Health Organization Technical Report Series 780: 1-46
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0512-3054 PMID: 2497585 Document Number: 249763
A WHO Study Group on Community Health Workers (CHWs) met in 1987 to investigate the role of CHWs, taken to refer mainly to village, rural or local doctors or health agents, within the context of primary health care in developing countries. Specific objectives of the Study Group were: to review, analyse and compare the experiences of these countries in the utilization of CHWs in health care, including their training, their role in national health systems and the support needed to enable them to perform more effectively; to identify major issues, gaps and areas of concern in all aspects of the use of CHWs; to determine exactly the role of CHWs; and to recommend strategies and action for enhancing their performance in health systems based on primary health care; and to identify the role of health systems research in such efforts. The conclusion highlights the critical role played by CHWs in the promotion of health care, but pinpoints ways in which their effectiveness can be enhanced through, for example, better policies for the establishment of CHW programmes, specific and regular budgetary support from governments to sustain training and supervision, the matching of CHW programmes to a community's needs, intersectoral cooperation at national, district and other levels, and more effective monitoring and evaluation of CHW programmes.