This report describes the “Building health workers capacity on air pollution and health” pilot workshop held in Ghana in 2022 which aimed at testing the training material of the first WHO Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit (APHT) targeting health professionals. APHT aims at strengthening ...the knowledge of health workers on air pollution and health and to enable them to effectively communicate with patients and communities on how to reduce their risk, to advocate for population level interventions as well as to train other peers and colleagues using a train-the-trainer approach. This workshop report serves as a tool and example of a training that can be replicated and adapted to other contexts and settings based on country and regional priorities and needs.
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In the course of implementing a recently funded network of hubs for building capacities in mental health service development, training, and research (RedeAmericas), the peer support workers are being introduced into the mental health workforce in three Latin American countries for the very first tim...e. They will be part of a team, along with community mental health workers, that provides a modified Critical Time Intervention to individuals with severe psychiatric disorders living in the community. This article reviewed the background of this increasingly widespread development, and discussed its merits, as well as potential obstacles within local contexts.
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The WHO Disability-Inclusive Health Services Training Package is a companion to the “WHO Disability-Inclusive Health Services Toolkit: A resource for health facilities in the Western Pacific Region” published by WHO in 2020. This package offers a range of additional training materials including ...presentations, workbooks and videos that will allow users to develop the foundational skills and understanding of the Toolkit for its implementation. Together the Toolkit and Training Package will help ensure equitable access to health services, best-quality outcomes and improved quality of life for all people with disabilities to achieve universal health coverage.
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This film explains what a retained placenta is, why it is important to be removed and the essential steps that need to be taken. It shows how to perform the procedure effectively by hand.
This film is for use in health worker training
This trainer toolkit is a guide for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) program implementers in Nigeria to train primary health care health workers to diagnose and provide care for women and girls with symptoms of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS). It has been developed based on a pilot study in ...Ogun State where 22 health facilities were trained on using the FGS tools. The trainer guide should be used alongside the ‘Health Worker Training Guide for managing FGS within primary health care’. Trainers should familiarise themselves with this manual before the training to ensure that all aspects of the training are conducted effectively.
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The Essential WASH Actions toolkit expands the connection between WASH and nutrition. This resource offers a comprehensive set of essential WASH actions, references training materials for health workers, nutrition managers and community workers to build capacity, and outlines accompanying behaviors ...needed to support the Essential Nutrition Actions.
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What are the FP and CAC competencies?
Through the clear articulation of the family planning and comprehensive abortion care (FP and CAC) competencies for the primary health care workforce, the aim is to advance improvements in FP and CAC service delivery by aligning health worker education approach...es with population health needs and health system demands.
This document, which describes these competencies in detail, is intended to:
be a foundational tool to be adopted and adapted by educators and regulators for FP and CAC providers (students) with a pre-service training pathway of at least 12 months;
describe competencies that are relevant to current and future health practice;
enable widespread use of the competencies not only for curriculum development for pre-service education, but also for in-service education, regulation, qualifications, quality assurance, personal development, performance evaluation, recruitment, management and career progression;
focus on the core functions of FP and CAC providers within broader efforts towards achieving universal health coverage
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The WHO guidelines on mental health at work provide evidence-based recommendations to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions, and enable people living with mental health conditions to participate and thrive in work. The recommendations cover organizational interventions, manager tra...ining and worker training, individual interventions, return to work, and gaining employment. The guidelines on mental health at work aim to improve the implementation of evidence-based interventions for mental health at work.
Executive summary available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
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Primary health care offers a cost–effective route to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). However, primary health-care systems are weak in many low- and middle-income countries and often fail to provide comprehensive, people-centred, integrated care. We analysed the primar...y health-care systems in 20 low- and middle-income countries using a semi-grounded approach. Options for strengthening primary health-care systems were identified by thematic content analysis. We found that: (i)despite the growing burden of noncommunicable disease, many low- and middle-income countries lacked funds for preventive services; (ii)community health workers were often under-resourced, poorly supported and lacked training; (iii)out-of-pocket expenditure exceeded 40% of total health expenditure in half the countries studied, which affected equity; and (iv)health insurance schemes were hampered by the fragmentation of public and private systems, underfunding, corruption and poor engagement of informal workers. In 14 countries, the private sector was largely unregulated. Moreover, community engagement in primary health care was weak in countries where services were largely privatized. In some countries, decentralization led to the fragmentation of primary health care. Performance improved when financial incentives were linked to regulation and quality improvement, and community involvement was strong. Policy-making should be supported by adequate resources for primary health-care implementation and government spending on primary health care should be increased by at least 1% of gross domestic product. Devising equity-enhancing financing schemes and improving the accountability of primary health-care management is also needed. Support from primary health-care systems is critical for progress towards UHC in the decade to 2030.
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Cardiovascular diseases, principally ischemic heart disease (IHD), are the most important cause of death and disability in the majority of low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). In these countries, IHD mortality rates are significantly greater in individuals of a low socioeconomic status (...SES).
Three important focus areas for decreasing IHD mortality among those of low SES in LLMICs are (1) acute coronary care; (2) cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention; and (3) primary prevention. Greater mortality in low SES patients with acute coronary syndrome is due to lack of awareness of symptoms in patients and primary care physicians, delay in reaching healthcare facilities, non-availability of thrombolysis and coronary revascularization, and the non-affordability of expensive medicines (statins, dual anti-platelets, renin-angiotensin system blockers). Facilities for rapid diagnosis and accessible and affordable long-term care at secondary and tertiary care hospitals for IHD care are needed. A strong focus on the social determinants of health (low education, poverty, working and living conditions), greater healthcare financing, and efficient primary care is required. The quality of primary prevention needs to be improved with initiatives to eliminate tobacco and trans-fats and to reduce the consumption of alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and salt along with the promotion of healthy foods and physical activity. Efficient primary care with a focus on management of blood pressure, lipids and diabetes is needed. Task sharing with community health workers, electronic decision support systems, and use of fixed-dose combinations of blood pressure-lowering drugs and statins can substantially reduce risk factors and potentially lead to large reductions in IHD. Finally, training of physicians, nurses, and health workers in IHD prevention should be strengthened.
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A Training Curriculum for Providers
A book of methods, aids, and ideas for instructors at the village level
An indispensable resource for health educators, this book provides hundreds of methods, aids, and learning strategies to make health education engaging and effective, encouraging community involvement through participatory edu...cation.
You can download chapter by chapter free of charge
The previous version (2005) is freely available here
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Shortages of healthcare workers is detrimental to the health of communities, especially children. This paper describes the process of capacity building Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to deliver integrated preventive and curative package of care of services to manage common childhood illness in h...ard-to-reach communities in Bondo Subcounty, Kenya
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Integration of mental health (MH) and HIV programs has the potential to significantly improve health outcomes for people living with HIV (PLHIV). This training package, which is comprised of a training-of-trainers manual, an accompanying presentation, and a standard operating procedure, was develope...d to support a pilot project for MH and HIV integration at the community level such that
health facilities, community-based organizations (CBOs), and traditional medical practitioners (TMPs) can collaborate to support MH screening and service provision for PLHIV in Zimbabwe
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Health systems the world over have embraced the value of community health workers (CHWs) in extending essential services to the community level, improving health equity and progressing toward universal health coverage. Governments now have an opportunity to institutionalize CHW programs and professi...onalize this essential cadre of the health workforce. What will it take to ensure CHW programs, at scale, can achieve their full potential?
Fortunately, policymakers, funders, NGOs, and other partners seeking to design, revamp, or strengthen CHW programs have a suite of tools at their disposal. One of the longest-standing and most rigorously field-tested of these tools is the Community Health Worker Assessment and Improvement Matrix (CHW AIM), an assessment tool which can be used to design, evaluate and strengthen CHW programs.
You can find this assessment tool on this page here. The matrix is also downloaded on MEDBOX, but if you want, you can register for free and get the matrix. After that follow the points underneath.
accessed 23.07.2021
also available in [Français] [Español]
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In many contexts, the safe delivery of health care services is challenged by the lack of respect for health care personnel who face insults, threats and violence. Consequences include the disruption of health services, high staff turnover in health facilities, high levels of stress impacting the qua...lity of the services and health care personnel being forced to flee. This manual intends to complement the existing training materials and is aimed at supporting staff in health care facilities to cope with stress and violent experiences, including how they can protect themselves by de-escalating potentially violent situations.
No publication year indicated
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CHW Central is an online community of practice that brings together program managers, experts, practitioners, researchers, and supporters of CHW programs. The website is a virtual meeting place to share resources and experiences and to discuss and develop questions and ideas on CHW programs and poli...cy. This site is available to all, however to participate actively in the conversations you need to register for a free membership.
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Implementation of the CHWs guidelines using Amref Health Africa lessons learnt
focuses on providing CHWs with predictable financial and non financial incentives,
frequent support supervision, continuous training and embedding them in health
systems with clear roles.
Empowering CHWs represents ...a cost effective approach with a critical change to-
wards achieving universal health coverage.
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The Essential Nutrition Actions and Essential Hygiene Actions Training Guide: Community Workers strengthens the capacity of community workers to deliver and promote the essential nutrition and hygiene actions. It introduces technical content within hands-on sessions to practice counseling and negoti...ation, using role plays and field practice. It guides community workers in understanding why and how to integrate messages on nutrition and hygiene into their different program platforms using a life cycle approach to deliver the right message to right person at the right time.
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Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI)
July 2008