Beyond Institutionalization: Planning for Sustained Investments in Training, Supervision, and Support of Community Health Worker Programs in Bangladesh

Abstract

Institutionalizing community health workers (CHWs) is insufficient for improving program quality. Governments must plan for sustained investments for salaries and benefits, as well as systems enabling adaptive management of the CHW cadres. Greater coordination is needed at the global level to pool and align donor investments to support the ecosystem underlying CHW programs.

Motivation and Performance of Community Health Workers: Nothing New Under the Sun, and Yet…

“…Interestingly, Roy et al show us what it takes to turn a “paper workforce” into motivated human capital, starting with timely and quality research. 4 Colvin et al usefully seek to translate 4 types of CHW incentives from their review (see above) into a dozen or so policy and management “prompts,” which will deserve consideration context-by-context. 7 …”

“… 3 In this issue of GHSP , Roy et al bring us to Bangladesh—a country with notable governmental and nongovernmental efforts to structure CHW programs for effective primary health care (PHC)—to consider what factors drive the motivation, and consequently the performance, of CHWs. 4 Roy et al apply a robust qualitative methodology, provide insightful analyses, and offer a rich discussion about implications for program management. One of the findings is that 4 :…”

“… 4 Roy et al apply a robust qualitative methodology, provide insightful analyses, and offer a rich discussion about implications for program management. One of the findings is that 4 :…”

Examining Roles, Support, and Experiences of Community Health Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh: A Mixed Methods Study

“…Before data collection, the study team collated a list of more than 450 government CHWs with names and phone numbers in the 4 study areas based on a pool of CHWs previously recruited and studied under the Frontline Health project. 20 …”

“…Before data collection, the study team collated a list of more than 450 government CHWs with names and phone numbers in the 4 study areas based on a pool of CHWs previously recruited and studied under the Frontline Health project. 20 We estimated a random sample size of 443 CHWs based on a sample size calculation for exploratory studies that assumes a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error. We assumed 75% of CHWs were involved in the COVID-19 government response (P=.75) and a 35% nonresponse adjustment for the use of the phone-based survey.…”