SynthesisInternational journal for equity in health2022
Community health workers and health equity in low- and middle-income countries: systematic review and recommendations for policy and practice.
Synthesis in International journal for equity in health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Influencing Community Members' Perception of Primary Health Care Services Delivered by Community Health Workers in Rural Areas: A Systematic Review.The Australian journal of rural health · 2026Pooled it
- Overcoming health misinformation in marginalized groups: a systematic review.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of measures taken by governments to support hand hygiene in community settings: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Burden and Challenges of Managing Hypertension in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Mixed Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of public health · 2025Pooled it
- Health extension service utilization in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of the types, workload, and supervision mechanism of community health workers: lessons learned for Indonesia.BMC primary care · 2024Pooled it
- A machine learning analysis of perceived healthcare access barriers among women of reproductive age in Sub-Saharan Africa: using demographic and health surveys.AJOG global reports · 2026Article
- Food is the Best Medicine (FBM): design and baseline findings from a multi-arm randomized controlled trial among food-insecure postpartum mothers in Texas.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Identifying delays to emergency laparotomy in a low-resource setting using the Three Delays Model: a prospective observational study (DEL study).BMJ global health · 2026Observational
- "It's not easy, but we need to support them so they don't get tired on the way": provider perspectives on delivering HIV services for people returning to HIV care in Cape Town, South Africa.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Community-based intervention to reach the last mile of childhood vaccination coverage in Burera district, Rwanda: a mixed method study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- PROTOCOL: Artificial Intelligence and Other Digital Tools Used by, and for Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to Improve Outcomes and Increase Effectiveness: An Evidence and Gap Map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Return on investment of community health workers in the United States: a systematic review.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Evaluating health service delivery frameworks for assessing community health worker performance in LMICs: a mixed-method systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Community Health Worker Feedback on an mHealth Intervention for Hypertension in Rural Guatemala: Mixed Methods Formative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- 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
- Enhancing Healthcare Services Quality in a Resource-Limited Country: Perspectives From Cambodia.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Exploring the socioeconomic and education-based inequalities in modern and traditional contraceptive use among women in Africa.Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Reciprocal innovation to improve access to primary healthcare in Belgium: adaptation and development of a community health worker intervention.BMC health services research · 2026Article
43 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
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe deployment of Community Health Workers (CHWs) is widely promoted as a strategy for reducing health inequities in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Yet there is limited evidence on whether and how CHW programmes achieve this. This systematic review aimed to synthesise research findings on the following questions: (1) How effective are CHW interventions at reaching the most disadvantaged groups in LMIC contexts? and (2) What evidence exists on whether and how these programmes reduce health inequities in the populations they serve?
methodsWe searched six academic databases for recent (2014-2020) studies reporting on CHW programme access, utilisation, quality, and effects on health outcomes/behaviours in relation to potential stratifiers of health opportunities and outcomes (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status, place of residence). Quantitative data were extracted, tabulated, and subjected to meta-analysis where appropriate. Qualitative findings were synthesised using thematic analysis.
resultsOne hundred sixty-seven studies met the search criteria, reporting on CHW interventions in 33 LMIC. Quantitative synthesis showed that CHW programmes successfully reach many (although not all) marginalized groups, but that health inequalities often persist in the populations they serve. Qualitative findings suggest that disadvantaged groups experienced barriers to taking up CHW health advice and referrals and point to a range of strategies for improving the reach and impact of CHW programmes in these groups. Ensuring fair working conditions for CHWs and expanding opportunities for advocacy were also revealed as being important for bridging health equity gaps.
conclusionIn order to optimise the equity impacts of CHW programmes, we need to move beyond seeing CHWs as a temporary sticking plaster, and instead build meaningful partnerships between CHWs, communities and policy-makers to confront and address the underlying structures of inequity.
trial registrationPROSPERO registration number CRD42020177333 .
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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.