In 2018 a HIFA Project pioneered communication links between local CHWs in Uganda and the wider, global HIFA forum, as part of our contribution to the first CHW Symposium in Kampala.
HIFA volunteer Carol Namata, an Environmental Health Officer at Makerere University School of Public Health, published a blog about this on the HIFA website:
https://www.hifa.org/news/using-whatsapp-connect-community-health-worker...
"I am a member of the HIFA working group on CHWs and I serve as facilitator for communication between HIFA and a Uganda CHW WhatsApp group. This work builds on the success of two other members of the HIFA working group on CHWs, Kavita Bhatia and Sunanda Reddy, who previously set up WhatsApp groups in India. To our knowledge these activities are unique in bringing together a global health community of practice (HIFA) with local health communities of practice..."
We are therefore very interested to see how much progress has been made in this area, thanks to the Community Health Impact Coalition, which reports a new paper on the subject:
A Social Network Lens to Community Health Worker Influence and Impact
Geographical region: Global
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11724407/
Study aims: To conceptualize and optimize the role of CHWs in leveraging their social networks for disseminating health messages, building community dialogue, and bridging gaps between communities and health systems.
Methods: Proposed a framework for CHW-mediated network interventions using social network analysis and insights from existing CHW models to enhance their connectivity, influence, and impact.
Key messages:
• CHWs use their formal and informal networks to disseminate health messages, promote social justice, and connect communities to health resources.
• Effective CHW interventions involve dissemination/diffusion of health messages, community dialogue for collective action, and boundary-spanning to bridge communities with health systems.
• Interventions should align with community needs, cultural norms, and CHW capacities, using participatory approaches to ensure relevance and impact.
Implications:
• CHWs play a pivotal role in leveraging social networks to disseminate health information, facilitate behavior change, and enhance community resilience.
• Tailored, network-informed interventions that adapt to local contexts and engage communities can maximize the effectiveness of CHW efforts.
• Continuous evaluation and participatory approaches ensure that CHW-mediated interventions remain relevant and impactful.
Policy recommendations:
• Develop training programs to strengthen CHWs’ network-building, communication, and behavior change skills, enabling them to optimize their influence within communities.
• Integrate CHWs into formal healthcare systems with defined roles and resources to support their boundary-spanning and community-bridging activities.
• Use social network analysis to design, implement, and evaluate CHW interventions, ensuring alignment with community needs and enhancing their sustainability.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org