ArticlePloS one2020
Performance of volunteer community health workers in implementing home-fortification interventions in Bangladesh: A qualitative investigation.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of the types, workload, and supervision mechanism of community health workers: lessons learned for Indonesia.BMC primary care · 2024Pooled it
- Factors influencing the performance of community health volunteers working within urban informal settlements in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative meta-synthesis review.Human resources for health · 2021Pooled it
- Implementing a peer learning strategy for health systems strengthening in Ghana: a qualitative study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Community-engaged clinical governance and machine learning for optimizing tuberculosis management in rural Eastern Cape.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Assessing the value-added contributions of community health workers and communities to early child development: a longitudinal study in a low-income setting.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Unlocking Success: Determining Predictors of High-Performance among COMBI Community Health Volunteers in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.Iranian journal of public health · 2024Article
- Assessing implementation outcomes for launching balanced energy protein supplementation: A formative study in rural Bangladesh.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Strengthening primary health care through community health workers in South Asia.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2024Review
- Exploring the motivations of female community health volunteers in primary healthcare provision in rural Nepal: A qualitative study.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Barriers and enablers in the micronutrient powder supply chain: lessons from a process evaluation of a home fortification programme in Bangladesh.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Recruitment and selection of community health workers in Iran; a thematic analysis.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Impact of market-based home fortification with micronutrient powder on childhood anemia in Bangladesh: a modified stepped wedge design.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
- Article
- "We are their eyes and ears here on the ground, yet they do not appreciate us"-Factors influencing the performance of Kenyan community health volunteers working in urban informal settlements.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Barriers to breastfeeding are shaped by sociocultural context: an exploratory qualitative study in Bangladesh.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2022Article
- Effect of home visits by community health workers on complementary feeding practices among caregivers of children aged 6-23 months in 10 districts of Bangladesh.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Assessing sustainment of health worker outcomes beyond program end: Evaluation results from an infant and young child feeding intervention in Bangladesh.Frontiers in health services · 2022Article
- The Effects of Deworming and Multiple Micronutrients on Anaemia in Preschool Children in Bangladesh: Analysis of Five Cross-Sectional Surveys.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Strengthening the role of community health workers in supporting the recovery of ill, undernourished children post hospital discharge: qualitative insights from key stakeholders in Bangladesh and Kenya.BMC health services research · 2021Review
- What is the impact of removing performance-based financial incentives on community health worker motivation? A qualitative study from an infant and young child feeding program in Bangladesh.BMC health services research · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionBRAC, an international development organisation based in Bangladesh, uses female volunteer community health workers called Shasthya Shebika (SS), who receive small incentives to implement its home-fortification interventions at the community level. This paper examines the individual, community and BRAC work environment factors that exert an influence on the performance of SS.
methodsThis qualitative study was conducted between the period of June 2014 to December 2016 as part of a larger evaluation of BRAC's home-fortification programme. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews and analysed thematically. The participants were SS and their supervisors working for BRAC, caregivers of children aged 6-59 months, husbands of SS, village doctors, and Upazila Health and Family Planning Officers.
resultsYounger, better educated and more experienced SS with positive self-efficacy were perceived to have performed better than their peers. Social and community factors, such as community recognition of the SS's services, social and religious norms, family support, and household distance, also affected the performance of the SS. There were several challenges at the programme and organisational level that needed to be addressed, including appropriate recruitment, timely basic training and income-generation guidance for the SS.
conclusionBRAC's volunteer SS model faces challenges at individual, community, programme and organisational level. Importantly, BRAC's SS require a living wage to earn essential income for their family. Considering the current socio-cultural and economic context of Bangladesh, BRAC may need to revise the existing volunteer SS model to ensure that SS receive an adequate income so that they can devote themselves to implementing its home-fortification intervention.
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