JACM special issue on community health workers and community health worker practice.

摘要

The only constant is change. Whether it is the challenge posed by an environmental crisis, implementing new health care reforms, or responding to the burden of caring for rapidly aging populations worldwide, both informal and formal systems and resources must be mobilized for them to make a difference. The articles presented here show that community health workers (CHWs)-defined and employed in many different settings-have taken on many of these challenges. This issue provides a broad overview of the CHW field and looks at how the field is changing over time. It also examines how individual CHWs and CHW programs function and what can be done to strengthen their capacity to make a difference in the health and weE being of individuals and communities.