ReviewHealth research policy and systems2021
Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 8. Incentives and remuneration.
Review in Health research policy and systems, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 123 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring parental knowledge, care-seeking, and support strategies for neonatal illness: an integrative review of the African Great Lakes region.Global health action · 2025Pooled it
- Multilevel determinants of community health workers for an effective maternal and child health programme in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 6. Recruitment, training, and continuing education.Health research policy and systems · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Community health worker-supported oral health promotion in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review of roles, interventions, and outcomes.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Altruism or Exploitation? Rethinking the Ethics of Unpaid Lay Community Health Workers in Sub- Saharan Africa. The Case of Zambia.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Impact of the prolonged economic crisis on healthcare delivery and workforce resilience in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Healthcare providers' awareness, perceptions and experiences in integrating palliative care for women with HIV and cancer in Nigeria: a qualitative study on barriers and facilitators.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Viewpoints of community committee workers on public health emergency management in urban communities: a Q methodology study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- "The satisfaction we get by doing this, you do not get it with any money": Experiences, and motivations of, and strategies used by community volunteers delivering social or health interventions in India.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Neglected tropical diseases elimination in Africa: lessons from regional control programmes.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Review
- Costs and cost-effectiveness of community health worker programmes focussed on non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries (2015-2024): a scoping literature review.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Financial motivation models for community health workers in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Global health action · 2025Article
- Three decades of community health workers in primary healthcare delivery in Rwanda: evolution, impact and policy lessons.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Pandemic-Related Funding Termination and Structural Drivers of Inequities: A Case Study of aAmerican journal of public health · 2025Article
- Incentives on the motivation and job performance; insights from community health workers in Iran.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Synthesising key findings from Indonesia's first civil society-led forum on primary health care: PHC forum, Jakarta, 13-14 November 2023.BMC proceedings · 2025Article
- Evaluating the impact of a community health worker training program.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- What does it take to design digitally enabled performance management and incentive interventions for community health programs: Lessons from Ethiopia.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Geographical coverage and dominant socio-demographic profiles of community health workers in Togo.BMC health services research · 2025Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThis is the eighth in our series of 11 papers on "CHWs at the Dawn of a New Era". Community health worker (CHW) incentives and remuneration are core issues that affect the performance of individual CHWs and the performance of the overall CHW programme. A better understanding of what motivates CHWs and a stronger awareness of the social justice dimensions of remuneration are essential in order to build stronger CHW programmes and to support the professionalization of the CHW workforce.
methodsWe provide examples of incentives that have been provided to CHWs and identify factors that motivate and demotivate CHWs. We developed our findings in this paper by synthesizing the findings of a recent review of CHW motivation and incentives in a wide variety of CHW programmes with detailed case study data about CHW compensation and incentives in 29 national CHW programmes.
resultsIncentives can be direct or indirect, and they can be complementary/demand-side incentives. Direct incentives can be financial or nonfinancial. Indirect incentives can be available through the health system or from the community, as can complementary, demand-side incentives. Motivation is sustained when CHWs feel they are a valued member of the health system and have a clear role and set of responsibilities within it. A sense of the "do-ability" of the CHW role is critical in maintaining CHW motivation. CHWs are best motivated by work that provides opportunities for personal growth and professional development, irrespective of the direct remuneration and technical skills obtained. Working and social relationships among CHWs themselves and between CHWs and other healthcare professionals and community members strongly shape CHW motivation.
conclusionOur findings support the recent guidelines for CHWs released by WHO in 2018 that call for CHWs to receive a financial package that corresponds to their job demands, complexity, number of hours worked, training, and the roles they undertake. The guidelines also call for written agreements that specify the CHW's role and responsibilities, working conditions, remuneration, and workers' rights.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.