Community Health Workers

Addressing delays in seeking health care

 

Our Community Health Worker (CHW) model focuses on the whole person. The Community Health Workers are trained, equipped, supported, and supervised to deliver frontline community health services. They are 80% women who proactively search for patients through door-to-door home visits. They make referrals to essential services for proper health management. Through a six months training program, they are equipped with the essential knowledge and resources to address health issues in their communities. They promote disease prevention and community-based development. They challenge communities to be independent, acquire important knowledge, and develop using their own resources. The CHWs visit an average of four to five households a day. The ratio of a CHW to a population is 1,000. 

 

Our CHW model empowers people to do things for themselves, equipping local leaders to see their community’s assets, developing community ownership, focusing on root causes of health problems, and using local resources, along with a model of participatory-based education. What distinguishes our CHW model from other CHW programs is its focus on both physical and spiritual needs and a stronger insistence on communities and individuals finding the answers themselves and “owning” the program. Together, as a community, people are empowered to discuss their problems, see the opportunities for change and take action.