TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of community health workers in primary healthcare in the WHO-EU region
T2 - a scoping review
AU - Van Iseghem, Tijs
AU - Jacobs, Ilka
AU - Vanden Bossche, Dorien
AU - Delobelle, Peter
AU - Willems, Sara
AU - Masquillier, Caroline
AU - Decat, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
TVI is contracted by Ghent University and is supported by the Scientific Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO-SBO fellowship: S006123N). The funders did not play a role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. Therefore, they accept no responsibility for the content.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Existing evidence on the role of community health workers (CHWs) in primary healthcare originates primarily from the United States, Canada and Australia, and from low- and middle-income countries. Little is known about the role of CHWs in primary healthcare in European countries. This scoping review aimed to contribute to filling this gap by providing an overview of literature reporting on the involvement of CHWs in primary healthcare in WHO-EU countries since 2001 with a focus on the role, training, recruitment and remuneration.METHODS: This systematic scoping review followed the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses, extension for Scoping Reviews. All published peer-reviewed literature indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases from Jan 2001 to Feb 2023 were reviewed for inclusion. Included studies were screened on title, abstract and full text according to predetermined eligibility criteria. Studies were included if they were conducted in the WHO-EU region and provided information regarding the role, training, recruitment or remuneration of CHWs.RESULTS: Forty studies were included in this review, originating from eight countries. The involvement of CHWs in the WHO-EU regions was usually project-based, except in the United Kingdom. A substantial amount of literature with variability in the terminology used to describe CHWs, the areas of involvement, recruitment, training, and remuneration strategies was found. The included studies reported a trend towards recruitment from within the communities with some form of training and payment of CHWs. A salient finding was the social embeddedness of CHWs in the communities they served. Their roles can be classified into one or a combination of the following: educational; navigational and supportive.CONCLUSION: Future research projects involving CHWs should detail their involvement and elaborate on CHWs' role, training and recruitment procedures. In addition, further research on CHW programmes in the WHO-EU region is necessary to prepare for their integration into the broader national health systems.
AB - BACKGROUND: Existing evidence on the role of community health workers (CHWs) in primary healthcare originates primarily from the United States, Canada and Australia, and from low- and middle-income countries. Little is known about the role of CHWs in primary healthcare in European countries. This scoping review aimed to contribute to filling this gap by providing an overview of literature reporting on the involvement of CHWs in primary healthcare in WHO-EU countries since 2001 with a focus on the role, training, recruitment and remuneration.METHODS: This systematic scoping review followed the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses, extension for Scoping Reviews. All published peer-reviewed literature indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases from Jan 2001 to Feb 2023 were reviewed for inclusion. Included studies were screened on title, abstract and full text according to predetermined eligibility criteria. Studies were included if they were conducted in the WHO-EU region and provided information regarding the role, training, recruitment or remuneration of CHWs.RESULTS: Forty studies were included in this review, originating from eight countries. The involvement of CHWs in the WHO-EU regions was usually project-based, except in the United Kingdom. A substantial amount of literature with variability in the terminology used to describe CHWs, the areas of involvement, recruitment, training, and remuneration strategies was found. The included studies reported a trend towards recruitment from within the communities with some form of training and payment of CHWs. A salient finding was the social embeddedness of CHWs in the communities they served. Their roles can be classified into one or a combination of the following: educational; navigational and supportive.CONCLUSION: Future research projects involving CHWs should detail their involvement and elaborate on CHWs' role, training and recruitment procedures. In addition, further research on CHW programmes in the WHO-EU region is necessary to prepare for their integration into the broader national health systems.
KW - Community health workers
KW - Primary healthcare
KW - WHO-EU region
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165353957&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12939-023-01944-0
DO - 10.1186/s12939-023-01944-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 37474937
VL - 22
JO - International Journal for Equity in Health
JF - International Journal for Equity in Health
SN - 1475-9276
IS - 1
M1 - 134
ER -