Village health volunteers' social capital related to their performance in Lao People's Democratic Republic: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Improving the performance of community health workers (CHWs) is a global issue. The relationship between CHWs and their community may impact their performance. In Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), CHW are called village health volunteers (VHV).

Successful mobile phone network-based approach to integration of the health care system in rural Laos: strengthening lay health worker performance.

Introduction: Little has been reported regarding how the effects of mobile phone-based improvements to healthcare worker communications may improve the activities of lay health workers, who form the crucial bridge between the official healthcare system and rural/remote communities. The objective of this study was to establish and assess the usefulness of a mobile phone-based communication network between village health volunteers (VHVs) and their supervisors in a rural district of Laos.

Methods: This study involved 154 villages out of a total of 158 villages located in Xepone district, Laos.