Home Visitation by Community Health Workers

Abstract

Community health workers are faced with challenges in the community during home visits. The re-engineering of primary health care services in South Africa brought a new cadre of community health workers that relieved the extra workload of primary health care nurses of conducting home visits as one of the activities. The findings of the study conducted in the Tshwane District culminated in the challenges of community, logistical, occupational, human resource, and managerial in nature. The CHWs stated the need for respect and acceptance by the community during home visits. Improved planning related to delegation of households by Outreach Leaders and provision of material resources. The support by managers for career development through training and education for various disease prevention. This indicated that the training of community health workers needs to be formalized and in-service education related to home visits should be planned, structured, and supported by the Department of Health.