We are celebrating two exciting milestones around Advocacy Training for Community Health Workers (CHWs):
1. The course recently passed 10,000 enrollments!
2. A new research publication in Frontiers in Public Health shares the experiences of co-creating the course with CHWs and Community Health Impact Coalition.
CHWs are uniquely suited to be advocates due to their distinctive roles in, relationships within, and understanding of the communities they serve. However, the absence of institutional support—including limited supervision, insufficient financial remuneration, inadequate supplies, equipment, and training, along with feeling undervalued by healthcare colleagues—often leaves CHWs feeling powerless in their roles and work environment. In some low-resourced areas, CHW programs have collapsed due to high attrition caused by the insufficient support given to CHWs.
Digital Medic and Community Health Impact Coalition developed a
free digital course, Advocacy Training for CHWs, to equip these impactful and essential frontline health workers with the skills to promote the issues most important to their communities and their own well-being.
Employing a design-based research (DBR) approach, we recruited 25 CHWs from eight countries to serve as an advisory group for creating the training. For six months, the CHWs engaged in course curriculum refinement and prototyping in a series of workshops.
Initially, the CHWs perceived themselves as community advocates but not as self-advocates. Over the six months, they increasingly reflected on the merits of advocating for better working conditions and aspired to greater involvement in decision-making. Ultimately, exposure to advocacy principles and active participation in co-creating the training content for fellow CHWs heightened awareness of the pivotal role CHWs occupy in health systems.