Hermen Ormel

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors influence CHW performance. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention design related factors influencing performance of CHWs. We systematically searched six databases for quantitative and qualitative […]

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing performance of CHWs.

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing performance of CHWs.

In 2004 a Multi-Country Programme aimed at establishing and strengthening networks to undertake social science research into HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa was launched.

Capacity-building is key to sustainable development efforts. For all the right reasons, over the past decades it has also enjoyed considerable attention in the field of health and development. However, perspectives on what capacity-building means, what it intends to achieve and which strategies are most effective differ, depending on the context and the perspectives of […]

Half of the world’s population is under 25 and 1.8 billion is between 10-25 years of age. Enabling young people to attain a good quality of life and health, and especially sexual and reproductive health, is of the utmost priority. Not only is it critical to young people themselves, it is also of vital important […]

• Review

This literature review is part of the context analysis undertaken for REACHOUT — linking communities and health systems. REACHOUT is an ambitious five-year international research consortium funded by the European Commission and aims to generate knowledge to develop the role of close-to-community (CTC) providers of health care in preventing, diagnosing and treating major illnesses and […]

A multi-country comparative study In LMICs, Community Health Workers (CHW) increasingly play health promotion related roles involving ‘Empowerment of communities’. To be able to empower the communities they serve, we argue, it is essential that CHWs themselves be, and feel, empowered. We present here a critique of how diverse national CHW programs affect CHW’s empowerment […]

Synthesis of the inter-country context analysis in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique This report presents a synthesis of findings on factors influencing the performance of closeto-community (CTC) providers. It is based on research conducted in six countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique, and also on evidence from an international literature review […]

• Report

Health systems are social institutions, in which health worker performance is shaped by transactional processes between different actors. This analytical assessment unravels the complex web of factors that influence the performance of community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries. It examines their unique intermediary position between the communities they serve and actors in […]

Close-to-community (CTC) providers have been identified as a key cadre to progress universal health coverage and address inequities in health service provision due to their embedded position within communities. CTC providers both work within, and are subject to, the gender norms at community level but may also have the potential to alter them. This paper […]

• Research article

The evaluation provided an independent assessment of UNFPA interventions in the area of family planning and identified key lessons learned for the current and future strategies. The particular emphasis of this evaluation was on learning with a view to informing the implementation of the UNFPA family planning strategy Choices not chance 2012-2020, as well as […]

• Research article

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors influence CHW performance. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention design related factors influencing performance of CHWs. We systematically searched six databases for quantitative and qualitative […]

Mozambique launched its revitalized community health programme in 2010 in response to inequitable coverage and quality of health services. The programme is focused on health promotion and disease prevention, with 20 % of community health workers’ (known in Mozambique as Agentes Polivalentes Elementares (APEs)) time spent on curative services and 80 % on activities promoting […]

• Research article

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing performance of CHWs.

• Research article

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing performance of CHWs.

• Research article

Many European countries are faced with health workforce shortages and the need to develop effective recruitment and retention (R&R) strategies. Yet comparative studies on R&R in Europe are scarce. This paper provides an overview of the measures in place to improve the R&R of health professionals across Europe and offers further insight into the evidence […]

• Report

Ten years after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), it is relevant and necessary to review and reflect on progressmade in implementing a more holistic and comprehensive view of reproductive health care, as called for in the ICPD Programme of Action. In1994, the international health community agreed on the need to integrate sexual […]

• Research article

A comparative analysis of factors shaping relationships in four countries Community health workers (CHWs) have a unique position between communities and the health sector. The strength of CHWs’ relationships with both sides influences their motivation and performance. This qualitative comparative study aimed at understanding similarities and differences in how relationships between CHWs, communities and the […]