What is it about?
A great deal of confusion is created by people using a few popular terms to discuss very different roles. Community health workers in the USA help people register to vote and advocate for better government services. In the developing world, this same term is used to describe immunization advocates. What should be the name for lay health workers who teach prevention of disease and health promotion, but ALSO intervene to provide curative care for easily diagnosed illnesses, such as wounds, diarrhea, and strep throat? This analysis provides a rational answer to this question. The name should be Village Health Worker (VHW). What makes people in this role more successful is also explored.
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Why is it important?
Currently terms used to describe lay health workers are vague. For example, in some settings, Community Health Worker means someone who assists people in obtaining all government services, including registering them to vote, while in other settings the same term refers to someone who provides immunizations and delivers babies. This paper serves to define and name the role of lay health workers who have both a health promotive and a limited curative role: Village Health Workers (VHWs).
Perspectives
I directed a program to teach Village Health Workers (VHWs) in Ghana for five years, and created a 300 page handbook for them to use as a reference. At that time, my graduates were called Primary Health Care Workers (PHCW), a term coined by the WHO in the 1970s. However, this term causes confusion because in the developed world, primary health care usually refers to health care professionals. This paper shows, through a formal concept development process, that the role should be called Village Health Worker (VHW).
Dr Linda LL Benskin
Independent Nurse Researcher and Ferris Mfg. Corp.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Concept Development of the Village Health Worker, Nursing Forum, July 2012, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-6198.2012.00270.x.
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