Community Health Workers
A village health worker can take care of 80 percent of the village’s health problems, because most are related to nutrition and to the environment.
~ Drs. Mabelle and Rajanikant Arole, founders of the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed, India
Lasting Change
GHM supports grassroots efforts to train and sustain Community Health Workers (CHWs) who can help create lasting change for better health. CHWs bring their training and skills to neighbors in their villages and surrounding communities, sharing information about basic first aid and life-changing knowledge and habits including the importance of treated bednets and how to prevent, identify and treat malaria. They promote the importance of clean water, nutrition and prenatal care, and contribute to maternal and child health by providing resources and information, and referring women for clinical care when needed.
In 2020, GHM is providing grants and consulting assistance to support partners with active and growing CHW training programs in El Salvador, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Tanzania. Additional partners are looking to this model as an effective, sustainable approach to preventing disease before it happens, addressing high maternal and infant mortality rates, and encouraging improved health in the communities they serve.
El Salvador
Village Health Promoter trainings have taken place all over the country of El Salvador since the Lutheran church began this program in 2008. Trainings include practicing techniques like checking a person’s pulse, and learning about potentially life-saving interventions. The impact can be profound. This woman saved a child’s life in her village by using Oral Rehydration techniques she learned in this training.
Nigeria
In 2019, the World Health Organization reported that almost 20% of global maternal deaths happen in Nigeria. CHWs can help change that. At the urging of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, GHM supported the development of a program that focused on improving population health in remote areas of Adamawa State. CHW training includes how to monitor women’s health during pregnancy.
Madagascar
Students in a new Community Health Nurse training program at SEFAM, the Lutheran School of Nursing in Madagascar, are benefiting from additional training in the “Jamkhed Model” of Community-Based Primary Health Care in India. Students shared ideas and learned from colleagues in India, and visited villages together for first-hand experience with community members.
Nicaragua
In 2017, GHM and our partners in El Salvador were asked to share their approach with church leaders in Nicaragua, who had heard of the success of the program for their neighbors. GHM is partnering in Nicaragua to provide first aid kits for CHWs, consultations and support training sessions. Sharing information about how to mitigate the spread of coronavirus is a focus for CHW training sessions, in Nicaragua and elsewhere.
