Abstract
The implementation of ward-based outreach teams (WBOTs), comprised of community health workers (CHWs), is one of the three interventions of the South African National Department of Health’s (NDoH) Primary Health Care (PHC) Re-engineering strategy for improving health outcomes. CHWs provide a necessary structure to contribute to successful implementation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) programme in four ways: (1) prevention of HIV infection by health education, (2) linkage to care by health education and referrals, (3) adherence support and (4) identification of individuals who are failing treatment. However, CHW programme and HIV programme-specific barriers exist that need to be resolved in order to achieve maximum impact. These include a lack of stakeholder and community support for WBOTs, challenging work and operational environments, a lack of in-depth knowledge and skills, and socio-cultural barriers such as HIV-related stigma. Considering its promising structure, documentation of the WBOT contribution to healthcare overall, and the HIV programme in particular, is urgently warranted to successfully and sustainably incorporate it into the South African healthcare system.
Highlights
Ward-based outreach teams (WBOTs) are becoming an increasingly important part of primary healthcare (PHC) in resource-constrained rural settings across the globe.[1]
In South Africa, each WBOT is linked to a PHC facility and consists of a team leader, usually a professional nurse, plus five or more community health workers (CHWs)
We identify and discuss key opportunities for effectively integrating WBOTs in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) response in South Africa, while noting various challenges that need to be addressed in order to maximise impact
Summary
Ward-based outreach teams (WBOTs) are becoming an increasingly important part of primary healthcare (PHC) in resource-constrained rural settings across the globe.[1].
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