Community health workers at the dawn of a new era: 6. Recruitment, training, and continuing education.

Background: This is the sixth of our 11-paper supplement entitled "Community Health Workers at the Dawn of New Era". Expectations of community health workers (CHWs) have expanded in recent years to encompass a wider array of services to numerous subpopulations, engage communities to collaborate with and to assist health systems in responding to complex and sometimes intensive threats. In this paper, we explore a set of key considerations for training of CHWs in response to their enhanced and changing roles and provide actionable recommendations based on current evidence and case examples for health systems leaders and other stakeholders to utilize.

Toward universal coverage in Afghanistan: A multi-stakeholder assessment of capacity investments in the community health worker system.

Global efforts to scale-up the community health workforce have accelerated as a result of the growing evidence of their effectiveness to enhance coverage and health outcomes. Reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan integrated capacity investments for community based service delivery, including the deployment of over 28,000 community health workers (CHWs) to ensure access to basic preventive and curative services. The study aimed to conduct capacity assessments of the CHW system and determine stakeholder perspectives of CHW performance.

Human resource development: new assessments and new directions.

The National Health Plan (NHP) 2001-2010 required a health workforce situation analysis and strategy to match the NHP's priorities and strategies. This paper is based on the work that was done in 2001 to support the preparation of a Health Human Resource Development Strategy for Papua New Guinea (PNG). The analysis showed that changes in health sector financing, population growth and changing health needs had created many human resource problems and challenges.

A challenge for monitoring iodine deficiency disorders in rural Nepal.

Developing a strategy for monitoring iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) remains a big challenge in rural Nepal where great variations could exist in IDD status. To explore the possibility of variation in urinary iodine excretion (UIE) level in rural settings, we carried out a detailed study of UIE among 586 school children of 20 schools in five villages. Our data revealed statisitically significant differences in UIE values among rural villages and schools in the same villages.

Narrowing of sex differences in infant mortality in Massachusetts.

Objectives: To examine whether the improved survival of preterm infants has influenced the known male excess in infant mortality.

Study Design: We analyzed sex-specific infant mortality using linked birth and death certificates for all 619,811 live born infants in Massachusetts between 1989 and 1995.

Results: Between 1989 and 1995 the male excess in infant mortality decreased by 50%, from 1.

Preconception homocysteine and B vitamin status and birth outcomes in Chinese women.

Background: The associations between homocysteine, B vitamin status, and pregnancy outcomes have not been examined prospectively.

Objective: We assessed the associations of preconception homocysteine and B vitamin status with preterm birth and birth of low-birth-weight (LBW) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants in Chinese women.

Design: This was a case-control study of women aged 21-34 y.

Preconception folate and vitamin B(6) status and clinical spontaneous abortion in Chinese women.

Objective: To assess the association between preconception homocysteine and B vitamin status and risk of clinical spontaneous abortion in women from Anqing, China.

Methods: All women were aged 21-34 years, had never smoked, and were primigravid. Patients (n = 49) were women with a clinically recognized pregnancy who experienced a fetal death before 100 days' gestation.