Role of community health volunteers in identifying people with elevated blood pressure for diagnosis and monitoring of hypertension in Malawi: a qualitative study

Elvis Safary,Florian Neuhann,Micrina Mwandeti,Beatrice Matanje,Veronica Shiroya,Sam Phiri,Volker Winkler,Andreas Deckert,Claudia Beiersmann,Pratap Kumar,Caroline Mtaita

doi:10.1186/s12872-021-02171-7

Abstract

BackgroundIn recent years, there has been greater recognition of the important role of community health volunteers in many countries and their important role informs many health programs. This include health education, provision of services such as screening, monitoring and referral to health facilities. Their roles are better understood in the areas of communicable diseases like HIV infection, Tuberculosis and Malaria however little is known about their role in non-communicable diseases. This study seeks to explore perception of CHVs’ functions, tasks, and their fulfilment in identifying people with elevated blood pressure for diagnosis and monitoring of hypertension in Lilongwe, Malawi.MethodsThis was a qualitative naturalistic research design utilizing observation and semi-structured interviews with community health volunteers working in Lilongwe, Malawi. Interviews were carried out with the researcher. Participants were recruited from the ZaMaC project. An interview guide was developed with a category-guided deductive approach. The interviews were recorded through note taking. Data analysis was performed using content analysis approach.ResultsCommunity health volunteers have multiple roles in prevention and monitoring of hypertension. They act as health educators and provide lifestyle counselling. They screened for hypertension and monitored blood pressure and assisted community members to navigate the health system such as linkage to health facilities. These roles were shaped in response to community needs.ConclusionThis study indicates the complexities of the roles of community health volunteer in identifying people with elevated BP for diagnosis and monitoring of hypertension. Understanding community health volunteers’ roles provides insight into their required competencies in provision of their daily activities as well as required training to fill in their knowledge gaps.

Highlights

In recent years, there has been greater recognition of the important role of community health volunteers in many countries and their important role informs many health programs
None of the Community Based Organization (CBO) sites had any Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which Community Health Volunteer (CHV) could follow for conducting community sensitization and outreach services
The findings of this study indicate that the CHVs fulfil a variety of important roles and functions in identifying people with elevated blood pressure (BP) for diagnosis and monitoring of hypertension at the community level

Summary

Introduction

There has been greater recognition of the important role of community health volunteers in many countries and their important role informs many health programs. This include health education, provision of services such as screening, monitoring and referral to health facilities. Their roles are better understood in the areas of communicable diseases like HIV infection, Tuberculosis and Malaria little is known about their role in non-communicable diseases. CHVs bring health care closer to where people live and work, constituting a core element of the health care process [4]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion