Table 2 Community-level outcomes as measurements of CHW programme performance [25, 27, 28]
From: Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 10. Programme performance and its assessment
Outcome | Definition |
|---|---|
Access | Equitable physical and social access to essential services delivered by CHWs, or delivery of services in a timely manner within the client’s home |
Community functioning | (Changes in) a community’s structure, processes and behaviours resulting from its interaction with a CHW |
Community empowerment | Degree to which both individuals and communities participate actively in community health activities |
Cost savings | Money not spent by community members or by the community that otherwise would have been spent in the absence of a CHW |
Credibility | Degree to which the community considers CHWs to be making an important and valuable contribution to the health and well-being of the community |
Health-promoting behaviour | Community members or communities have adopted health-promoting behaviours at home or in the community as a result of contact with CHWs |
Knowledge of service availability | Community members’ ability to identify the location of CHWs, the services they provide, and when they are available |
Prestige | Status the community confers upon CHWs as a result of their selection and/or resulting from the quantity and quality of the services they deliver to community members |
Referral/counter referral | Degree of acceptance and use of services provided at a health facility following referral by a CHW, and the degree of acceptance and use of CHW services when referred back to the CHW by the health facility |
Satisfaction | Clients’ or communities’ reported degree of satisfaction with the services rendered by CHWs |
Social cohesion | Change in the manner in which community members work towards achieving a goal or satisfy the emotional needs of its members (including marginalized or vulnerable groups) resulting from its interaction with a CHW |
Trust | Degree to which community members or communities believe that the CHW will do his/her best to meet their needs [38] |
Use of services/healthcare-seeking behaviour | Degree to which community members (including marginalized or vulnerable groups) with access to CHWs are routinely seeking and using promotional, preventive, and curative services that CHWs offer |