Factors influencing acceptability of community health workers by community members in Ulanga district

Abstract

Background: Community Health Workers (CHWs) are a powerful force for promoting healthy behaviors and extending the reach of health systems around the world. CHWs play an important role in improving population health where health workforce resources are limited and access to basic services is low. Although CHWs play a key role in the health of communities, there is an issue of acceptability from community members and health professionals because CHWs are usually residents in the community in which they work, where it is assumed that, they automatically receive support from community and stakeholders. The study therefore aimed at assessing the understanding and the level of acceptability of Community Health Workers in the community. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess factors influencing the acceptability of Community Health Workers in Ulanga district. Materials and Methods: The methodology employed a cross-sectional descriptive study design involving community members receiving services from Community Health Workers who had been trained in a nationally recognized one-year program. A multi-stage sampling technique was applied to select a sample size of 249 community members; adjusting for an assumed non-response of 10%.The total number of community members targeted for the study from five-wards was 275. A structure questionnaire was administered to selected community members to collect data. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel were used for data analysis. Frequencies, percentages, and descriptive. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographical characteristics, frequency tables used to summarize categorical and continuous data. For continuous data, means and corresponding standard deviations were computed. Results: The age of the study participants ranged from 19 to 81 years with a mean of 2.41 (SD= 1.7) years. The study finding indicates that 65.5% they have agreed CHWs are accessible in the community to provide health services, while 70.2% they have satisfy with the service delivered by CHWs, moreover on trust 73.1% of the respondent shown high level of trust to CHWs. Furthermore, the study concluded that community need of health services and the credential of CHWs are essential towards strengthening health services.

Conclusion and Recommendation: The study recommendations are including the ministry level to consider the work condition of CHWs. The district to ensure number of CHWs are enough in the communities Community members to embrace the role of CHWs towards strengthening of health services in their areas; Further research to cover other non-study wards and factors influencing acceptability among the high number of community members without primary education.