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Review
. 2020 Jun;5(6):e002550.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002550.

Prioritising the role of community health workers in the COVID-19 response

Madeleine Ballard  1   2 , Emily Bancroft  3 , Josh Nesbit  4 , Ari Johnson  5   6 , Isaac Holeman  4   7 , Jennifer Foth  8 , Debbie Rogers  9 , Jane Yang  5 , James Nardella  10 , Helen Olsen  4 , Mallika Raghavan  10 , Raj Panjabi  10   11 , Rebecca Alban  3 , Serah Malaba  8 , Molly Christiansen  8 , Stephanie Rapp  5 , Jennifer Schechter  12 , Patrick Aylward  12 , Ash Rogers  13 , Jacques Sebisaho  14 , Clarise Ako  14 , Nandini Choudhury  2   15 , Carey Westgate  16 , Julius Mbeya  13 , Ryan Schwarz  11   15 , Matthew H Bonds  17   18 , Rehan Adamjee  19 , Julia Bishop  20 , Amanda Yembrick  4 , David Flood  21   22 , Meg McLaughlin  23 , Daniel Palazuelos  11   24
Affiliations
Review

Prioritising the role of community health workers in the COVID-19 response

Madeleine Ballard et al. BMJ Glob Health. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targeted actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals: (1) PROTECT healthcare workers, (2) INTERRUPT the virus, (3) MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity, and (4) SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks. While decisive action must be taken now to blunt the impact of the pandemic in countries likely to be hit the hardest, many of the investments in the supply chain, compensation, dedicated supervision, continuous training and performance management necessary for rapid community response in a pandemic are the same as those required to achieve universal healthcare and prevent the next epidemic.

Keywords: health policy; health systems; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epidemic phases and response interventions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Timing of potential spread in vulnerable areas, from urban to rural.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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MeSH terms