The Community Health Workers Central in partnership with the Community Health Impact Coalition are launching a new month series with a focus on community health. The Community Health Worker Assessment and Improvement Matrix (CHW AIM) was developed in 2011 by the USAID Health Care Improvement (HCI) Project to help organisations assess community health programme functionality and improve programme performance.
Over the years this tool has been used by policymakers, funders, NGOs, and other partners seeking to design, revamp, or strengthen community health workers’ programs. In 2018, USAID, UNICEF, the Community Health Impact Coalition, and Initiatives Inc. undertook a review and updating process of the CHW AIM Tool. The impetus was for the tool to reflect the most recent evidence and recommendations for effective CHW programme design and management.
This new monthly series will showcase studies from six countries including Kenya where CHW AIM has been used to inform policy discussions about establishing a professionalised CHW cadre as part of the Community Health Services Bill. These replicable examples, it is hoped, will help countries build back stronger, more resilient health systems underpinned by a well-supported health workforce that reaches every patient, starting at the household level.