Hill, Z;
Dumbaugh, M;
Benton, L;
Kaellander, K;
Strachan, D;
ten Asbroek, A;
Tibenderana, J;
... Meek, S; + view all
(2014)
Supervising community health workers in low-income countries - a review of impact and implementation issues.
GLOBAL HEALTH ACTION
, 7
, Article 24085. 10.3402/gha.v7.24085.
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Abstract
Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are an increasingly important component of health systems and programs. Despite the recognized role of supervision in ensuring CHWs are effective, supervision is often weak and under-supported. Little is known about what constitutes adequate supervision and how different supervision strategies influence performance, motivation, and retention. Objective: To determine the impact of supervision strategies used in low- and middle-income countries and discuss implementation and feasibility issues with a focus on CHWs. Design: A search of peer-reviewed, English language articles evaluating health provider supervision strategies was conducted through November 2013. Included articles evaluated the impact of supervision in low- or middle-income countries using a controlled, pre-/post- or observational design. Implementation and feasibility literature included both peer-reviewed and gray literature. Results: A total of 22 impact papers were identified. Papers were from a range of low- and middle-income countries addressing the supervision of a variety of health care providers.We classified interventions as testing supervision frequency, the supportive/facilitative supervision package, supervision mode (peer, group, and community), tools (self-assessment and checklists), focus (quality assurance/problem solving), and training. Outcomes included coverage, performance, and perception of quality but were not uniform across studies. Evidence suggests that improving supervision quality has a greater impact than increasing frequency of supervision alone. Supportive supervision packages, community monitoring, and quality improvement/ problem-solving approaches show the most promise; however, evaluation of all strategies was weak. Conclusion: Few supervision strategies have been rigorously tested and data on CHW supervision is particularly sparse. This review highlights the diversity of supervision approaches that policy makers have to choose from and, while choices should be context specific, our findings suggest that high-quality supervision that focuses on supportive approaches, community monitoring, and/or quality assurance/problem solving may be most effective.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Supervising community health workers in low-income countries - a review of impact and implementation issues |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3402/gha.v7.24085 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.24085 |
| Additional information: | # 2014 Zelee Hill et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license. |
| Keywords: | supervision, community health worker, lay health worker, health worker, low-income country, developing country, ICCM |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1433205 |
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