Assessing community health worker service delivery in humanitarian settings

摘要

I n humanitarian emergencies, an urgent need arises to improve access to essential health care services, especially for affected populations who reside outside of camp settings and are thus less accessible through fixed health facilities. In conflict-affected contexts, with high levels of insecurity, population movement, disruptions in supply chains, and exacerbations of pre-existing shortages of human and fi- nancial resources, it is especially difficult to deliver services to affected populations. Building on the track record of community health workers (CHWs) delivering a range of life-saving health care services to hard- to-reach populations, there is renewed interest in supporting CHWs to deliver these services during hu- manitarian crises [1]. Existing evidence suggests that CHWs can continue providing routine services, as well as new emergency response activities, during crises [2 - 5]. There is now a need for rigorous assess- ments of the feasibility and effectiveness of delivering essential health services in humanitarian settings through community health systems.