Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been advocated as a means of providing primary health care to under-served populations in developing countries since the late 1960's. These community based workers are usually volunteers who receive basic training in health education, antenatal/delivery/postnatal care, and treatment of simple common illnesses. They represent a referral link between the community and professional health services. Female CHWs (FCHWs) are able to access vulnerable populations such as women and children and are often also are involved in midwifery. / This thesis evaluates the Community Health Worker (CHW) program using both quantitative and qualitative methods. An initial literature review attempts to ascertain the current quality of evidence provided by published studies of CHW effectiveness to date (Medline 1983-1994). A quantitative study, undertaken by this author in 1990 in Afghan refugee villages in Pakistan, evaluates CHW effectiveness in health promotion using two knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaires (N = 600). The results of this study are then discussed and interpreted with additional qualitative and secondary data collected in the same study area in 1994. Determinants of female community health worker (FCHW) effectiveness are examined by looking more closely at the relationship between the female CHW and both the community and the local health system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.55454 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Bell, Lori |
| Contributors | Moore, T. R. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001495597, proquestno: AAIMM12159, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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