Majee W1, Anakwe A2, Johnson L3, Rhoda A4, Frantz J5, Schopp L6
1University of Missouri, Health Sciences, Columbia, United States, 2University of Missouri, Public Health, Columbia, United States, 3University of the Western Cape, Physiotherapy Department, Cape Town, South Africa, 4University of the Western Cape, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa, 5University of Western Cape, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa, 6University of Missouri, Health Psychology, Columbia, United States
Background: While community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly being utilized as a strategy for increasing healthcare access, particularly in rural communities, interventions are needed to improve their skill sets in inspiring health behavior change, both for themselves and among their community clients. Self-management education interventions have shown potential to improve health behaviors and well-being.
Purpose: This paper reports on systematic, in-depth interviews conducted with rural CHWs in South Africa to understand
a) their motivation for participating in SM training,
b) skills gained from training and
c) perceived impact of training on CHW health behavior, both personally and as health professionals.
Methods: Nineteen rural CHWs who completed a self-management training participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were independently coded by two researchers using the thematic framework approach.
Results: Community health workers felt empowered to change their health behavior by skills such as goal setting and action planning, and by growth in self-awareness and confidence. They expressed that their desire to help others motivated them to participate in SM training.
Conclusion(s): Self-management training programs that address practice skill gaps hold promise in producing health behavior changes for rural CHWs and their clients.
Implications: Given the increased deployment of CHWs in rural communities, it is important, now more than ever, to develop training programs for CHWs, including those that develop standardized SM competencies, and tools to evaluate those competencies. These competencies would provide consistent standards for all CHWs across settings, and ensure that the appropriate content is delivered and taught, allowing for the development of a sustainable and effective workforce.
Better workforce performance is positively associated with higher job satisfaction and training, particularly SM training, may have potential to increase job satisfaction as CHWs gain skills to understand how their own physical and mental health is related to their service delivery.
Keywords: Self-management, health behavior, community health worker
Funding acknowledgements: This work was supported by the University of Missouri's South African Educational Program, and the University of Western Cape.
Purpose: This paper reports on systematic, in-depth interviews conducted with rural CHWs in South Africa to understand
a) their motivation for participating in SM training,
b) skills gained from training and
c) perceived impact of training on CHW health behavior, both personally and as health professionals.
Methods: Nineteen rural CHWs who completed a self-management training participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were independently coded by two researchers using the thematic framework approach.
Results: Community health workers felt empowered to change their health behavior by skills such as goal setting and action planning, and by growth in self-awareness and confidence. They expressed that their desire to help others motivated them to participate in SM training.
Conclusion(s): Self-management training programs that address practice skill gaps hold promise in producing health behavior changes for rural CHWs and their clients.
Implications: Given the increased deployment of CHWs in rural communities, it is important, now more than ever, to develop training programs for CHWs, including those that develop standardized SM competencies, and tools to evaluate those competencies. These competencies would provide consistent standards for all CHWs across settings, and ensure that the appropriate content is delivered and taught, allowing for the development of a sustainable and effective workforce.
Better workforce performance is positively associated with higher job satisfaction and training, particularly SM training, may have potential to increase job satisfaction as CHWs gain skills to understand how their own physical and mental health is related to their service delivery.
Keywords: Self-management, health behavior, community health worker
Funding acknowledgements: This work was supported by the University of Missouri's South African Educational Program, and the University of Western Cape.
Topic: Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: University of Missouri and the University of Western Cape
Ethics committee: Health Sciences
Ethics number: 2009691
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
