Strategies to Improve the Performance of Community Health Volunteers for Tuberculosis Care and Prevention: A Qualitative Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia

2 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Community health volunteers contributed to the total Tuberculosis (TB) case findings; however, the attrition rate of these volunteers was high which reduces their optimal performance. Hence, sustainability of efforts should be explored to retain the community health volunteers in the TB program.Improvement of community health volunteers to perform community-based health education and prevent TB has not been examined consistently around the globe, including Indonesia. This study aimed to explore the strategies to improve performance of community health volunteers for TB care and prevention to reduce the incidence and stop the spread of TB in the community.
Methods: A qualitative design was adopted and we used two focus group discussions in 2017 to collect the data. The participants included village health workers as volunteers in two regencies of Bandung City, West Java Indonesia. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: Four major themes should be considered in developing a community-based TB health education program: (1) informing community health volunteers about the benefits and difficulties of being a TB volunteer; (2) recognizing the activities and feelings of volunteers; (3) emphasizing the Willingness to Help Others; and (4) having access to TB training.
Conclusion: To develop a community-based health education program for TB care and prevention, community nurses need to listen to the opinions of community health volunteers, and TB patients and their family members to ensure that the health education program is tailored to meet community needs.

Keywords

References

  1.  

    1. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018.
    2. Karumbi J, Garner P. Directly observed therapy for treating tuberculosis. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;5:CD003343.
    3. Anuwatnonthakate A, Limsomboon P, Nateniyom S, et al. Directly observed therapy and improved tuberculosis treatment outcomes in Thailand. PLoS One. 2008;3:e3089.
    4. Wright CM, Westerkamp L, Korver S, Dobler CC. Community-based directly observed therapy (DOT) versus clinic DOT for tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative effectiveness. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2015;15:210.
    5. Anderson ET, McFarlane J. Community as Partner : Theory and Practice in Nursing. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011.
    6. Kok MC, Dieleman M, Taegtmeyer M, et al. Which intervention design factors influence performance of
      community health workers in low-and middle-income countries? A systematic review. Health Policy and Planning. 2014;30:1207-27
    7. Querri A, Ohkado A, Yoshimatsu S, et al. Enhancing tuberculosis patient detection and care through community volunteers in the urban poor, The Philippines. Public Health Action. 2017;7:268-74.
    8. Creswell JW. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 3rd ed. USA: Sage Publications; 2009.
    9. Sarantakos S. Social Research. 4thed. London: Palgrave Macmillan; 2012.
    10. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2006;3:77-101.
    11. Cooper HE, Camic PM, Long DL, et al. APA handbook of research methods in psychology, Vol 2: Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological and biological. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2012.
    12. Denzin N, Lincoln YS. The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. 4th ed. Los Angeles: SAGE publications; 2011.
    13. Neuman WL. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon; 2011.
    14. Yin RK. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 5th ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications; 2014.
    15. Mkandawire WC, Muula AS. Motivation of community care givers in a peri-urban area of Blantyre, Malawi. African Journal of Health Sciences. 2005;12:21-5.
    16. Rahman SM, Ali NA, Jennings L, et al. Factors affecting recruitment and retention of community health workers in a newborn care intervention in Bangladesh. Human Resources for Health. 2010;8:12.
    17. Tulloch O, Taegtmeyer M, Ananworanich J, et al. What can volunteer co-providers contribute to health systems? The role of people living with HIV in the Thai paediatric HIV programme. Social Science & Medicine. 2015;145:184-92.
    18. Tugade MM, Fredrickson BL, Barrett LF. Psychological Resilience and Positive Emotional Granularity: Examining the Benefits of Positive Emotions on Coping and Health. Journal of Personality. 2004;72:1161-90.
    19. Sanchez AIM, Bertolozzi MR. Beyond DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course) in tuberculosis’ control: interfacing and sharing needs. Revista Latino-americana de Enfermagem. 2009;17:689-94.
    20. Atun R, Weil DE, Eang MT, Mwakyusa D. Health-system strengthening and tuberculosis control. Lancet. 2010;375:2169-78.
    21. Raviglione MC, Uplekar MW. WHO’s new Stop TB Strategy. Lancet. 2006;367:952-5.
    22. Kamolratanakul P, Sawert H, Lertmaharit S, et al. Randomized controlled trial of directly observed treatment (DOT) for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Thailand. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 1999;93:552-7.
    23. Bocoum FY, Kouanda S, Zarowsky C. Barriers to antenatal syphilis screening in Burkina Faso. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2014;17:12.
    24. Eisenberg N, Reykowski J, Staub E. Individual and societal (group) values in a motivational perspective and their role in benevolence and harmdoing. Social and moral values: Individual and Societal Perspectives. UK: Routledge; 2016.
    25. World Health Organization. ENGAGE-TB: integrating community-based tuberculosis activities into the work of nongovernmental and other civil society organizations: training of community health workers and community volunteers: facilitators’ guide. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015.
    26. Vizeshfar F, Momennasab M, Yektatalab S, Iman MT. Evaluation of the effectiveness of a first aid health volunteers’ training programme using Kirkpatrick’s model: A pilot study. Health Education Journal. 2017;77:190-7.
    27. Close K, Karel M, White M. A pilot program of knowledge translation and implementation for newborn resuscitation using US Peace Corps Volunteers in rural Madagascar. Globalization and Health. 2016;12:73.
International Journal of Community Based Nursing & Midwifery
Volume 7, Issue 4 - Serial Number 28
October 2019
Pages 270-278

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics