Performance of community health workers and associated factors in a rural community in Wakiso district, Uganda

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Musoke, D, Ndejjo, R, Atusingwize, E, Mukama, T, Ssemugabo, C and Gibson, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1220-8680, 2019. Performance of community health workers and associated factors in a rural community in Wakiso district, Uganda. African Health Sciences, 19 (3), pp. 2784-2797. ISSN 1680-6905

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Abstract

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) continue to play a crucial role in supporting health service delivery globally. Several CHW programmes around the world face vast challenges which affect their performance.

Objectives: This study assessed the performance of CHWs and associated factors in a rural community in Wakiso district, Uganda.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that employed a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data from 201 CHWs in Wakiso district. The main study variable was CHW performance based on various roles carried out by CHWs. Multivariable logistic regression in STATA was used to establish the predictors of CHW performance.

Results: Only 40 (19.9%) of the CHWs had a high performance which was associated with having attended additional / refresher trainings [AOR=12.79 (95% CI: 1.02-159.26)], and having attained secondary level education and above [AOR=3.93 (95% CI: 1.17-13.24)]. CHWs who were married [AOR=0.29 (95% CI: 0.09-0.94)] were less likely to perform highly. Among CHWs who had received essential medicines for treatment of childhood illnesses, the majority 90.3% (112/124) had experienced stock-outs in the 6 months preceding the study. Despite the majority of CHWs 198 (98.5%) stating that being motivated was very important in their work, only 91 (45%) said that they were motivated.

Conclusions: Additional / refresher trainings are necessary to enhance performance of CHWs. In addition, level of education should be considered while selecting CHWs. The health system challenges of low motivation of CHWs as well as stock-out of medicines need to be addressed to support their work.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	African Health Sciences
Creators:	Musoke, D., Ndejjo, R., Atusingwize, E., Mukama, T., Ssemugabo, C. and Gibson, L.
Publisher:	Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Date:	2019
Volume:	19
Number:	3
ISSN:	1680-6905
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	02 May 2019 10:02
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2020 10:30
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/36391