Skills2Care: An innovative, cooperative learning programme for community health workers in South Africa
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Skills2Care: An innovative, cooperative learning programme for community health workers in South Africa | |
| Creator | Boulle, Therese M. Cromhout, Paul August, Khuzwayo Woods, Dave | |
| Description | Background: Community health workers (CHWs) hold potential to support universal health coverage and better health for vulnerable communities. They are integral to the re-engineered Primary Health Care (PHC) strategy, introduced in South Africa in 2011. This study focussed on how to train CHWs in large numbers, especially in resource-limited, rural settings. Skills2Care, a method of cooperative learning for CHWS, has been pioneered in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.Aim: To determine whether Skills2Care could improve the cognitive knowledge of CHWs; to understand their response and attitude to the programme; to explore factors that enabled and inhibited learning and to consider its viability as a training method.Setting: Research was conducted in 2019 in the Ngqeleni subdistrict of the O.R. Tambo district, in rural Eastern Cape.Methods: A group-learning model using specifically tailored study modules in booklet format, addressing mother and baby care, was used. A facilitator promoted learning. Knowledge assessment was conducted by pre- and post-study testing using multiple choice questions. Focus group discussions and interviews explored the appropriateness and acceptability of this method, and factors enabling and inhibiting the learning.Results: This method of peer group cooperative learning can significantly increase the cognitive knowledge of CHWs. Test scores indicated a significant (13%) improvement. Focus group discussions indicated that participants valued this method as it increased knowledge and boosted their confidence.Conclusion: This innovative approach to district-based, continuing education suggests that CHWs could be trained in large numbers without the need for additional resources. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2021-10-21 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.2922 | |
| Source | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 13, No 1 (2021); 10 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2922/4988
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2922/4989
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2922/4990
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2922/4991
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