Community Health Workers (CHWs) are NAWEC’s essential link to the communities in the Nama sub-county. Since the COVID lockdowns in May 2020, our cadre of 50 CHWs has registered 6,356 households, disseminated over 1,000 COVID-19 educational materials, and served 430 pregnant women. They have been trained in the National Curriculum, as well as first aid, malaria rapid testing, and nutritional assessment.
The community health workers (CHW) pillar utilizes village health teams (VHTs) to reach people who would otherwise not be reached by conventional health facility services.
The 50 CHWs currently working with us operate in 28 villages and three parishes in the Nama sub-county.
The CHW pillar’s main goal is to create a strong force at the village level to support communities to stay safe, strong and resilient enough, especially at such hard times.
We have trained, equipped, and deployed CHWs in their respective villages where they support their community members to access health centres through referrals, they provide relevant, accurate and timely health information to community members. Moreover, the CHWs conduct integrated community case management (iCCM) where they treat children under five for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea. The CHWs are a force in advocating for better health for their communities; they participate in monthly health centre meetings and provide guidance on how best their communities can be served.
KEY SERVICES/ACTIVITIES
- Households registration
- Household visits
- Integrated community case management (iCCM)
- Nutrition assessment
- Referrals (ANC, FP, PNC, maternity, danger signs in pregnant women and children etc)
- Community sensitization for health-related activities
- Support government health facilities