Building Community Health Worker Capacity in Egypt

The program aimed to implement the preventive and curative arm of the national integrated family health strategy at the community level, with a focus on maternal and child health and birth spacing. By 2012, the program had grown to include 14,000 CHWs, but it lacked a national community health strategy and insufficient training resources, limiting its potential to achieve desired results. The CHWs played a crucial role in providing health education, performing health promotion activities, and making referrals as needed. Their standing and familiarity within their communities uniquely positioned them to empower households to make healthy choices. During the 2014 outbreak of avian influenza, or "bird flu, " the CHWs alone were responsible for providing health education and referrals due to their longstanding presence in the community. The Improving Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition (IMCHN) project, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed to strengthen the CHW program in Egypt. The project's goals included providing technical assistance to the MOHP to develop a national strategy for the CHWs, supporting the MOHP's Family Health Package, and achieving relevant Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. The IMCHN project conducted a 4-month assessment of the national CHW program in 2015, generating 11 recommendations to establish the actions and strategies necessary to build the capacity of the CHWs and inform the design of a new national strategy. Two of the recommendations relevant to IMCHN's training activities were to establish a state-of-the-art training strategy adapted to the ambitions of the CHW program and confirm or establish the strategic direction of the CHW program toward a full family health strategy. The IMCHN project designed an updated training curriculum targeting improved CHW technical knowledge and skills to better meet the health needs of women of reproductive age and their families in Egypt. The new curriculum had a modular approach to technical content areas, focusing on competency-based skills acquisition. The modules presented the content of the MOHP's Family Health Package, including newborn and child health, reproductive health, and nutrition. The IMCHN project also implemented a rigorous training program for CHWs from 23 governorates, including 216 districts and 4,839 primary health care units (PHCUs). The project trained 63 master trainers and 132 lead trainers on the five new modules, who then cascaded the training to 1,280 CHW supervisors with IMCHN's coaching and mentoring support. The CHW supervisors received printed copies of the modules, job aids, and the updated MOHP family demographic register and daily home visit register for future reference. The CHW supervisors built the capacity of 10,183 CHWs using the hands-on, interactive, and interactive, Low-Dose, High-Frequency (LDHF) approach, focusing on workplace-based learning and practice. The LDHF approach optimized and sustained CHW performance by using interactive techniques, including hands-on simulation, constructive feedback, and group-based learning opportunities. The approach also promoted facility-based trainings, which have been shown to be more effective than traditional classroom-based workshops. The LDHF approach increased CHW knowledge and skills, enabling them to provide better health services to their communities. The approach also promoted the use of digital tablets, which allowed for more effective communication between CHWs and the MOHP. The MOHP distributed digital tablets to all 14,500 CHWs currently working in Egypt, recognizing their important role in health awareness and promotion. The IMCHN project's training strategy drew from the LDHF methodology, which has been shown to be more effective than traditional training approaches. The project's training program focused on competency-based skills acquisition, interactive techniques, and hands-on simulation. The program also promoted facility-based trainings, which have been shown to be more effective than traditional classroom-based workshops. The IMCHN project's training program aimed to build the capacity of CHWs to provide better health services to their communities. The program's focus on competency-based skills acquisition, interactive techniques, and hands-on simulation enabled CHWs to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to provide better health services. The program also promoted the use of digital tablets, which allowed for more effective communication between CHWs and the MOHP.