Community Health Workers
Community health workers increase healthcare access to people living in poverty, acting as the "infrastructural bridge" from the clinic to the home.
Many of these people have chronic diseases such as HIV or hypertension. These diseases require routine medical supervision, and in limited-resource environments, laypeople can be trained to administer, manage, and report aspects of healthcare between the home and clinic - whether it is checking for HIV medication side-effects or recording blood pressure readings. These laypeople are community health workers, and their long-term need grows as chronic diseases emerge.
Other benefits of community health workers include conducting acute disease surveillance, promoting adherence to medications for chronic diseases, and reducing the overall morbidity and mortality of this population. The community health worker model (if paid) is proven to be the best in low-income countries.
