Changing power narratives: an exemplar case study on the professionalisation of community health workers in Liberia.

ABSTRACT: Despite their central role in achieving health equity and Universal Health Coverage, only a minority of community health workers (CHWs) is formally recognised as health workforce and receives a salary. Community health policies are formed within the power dynamics of global health practice. We argue that critical investigations of the power dynamics that influence the design of CHW programmes can contribute system-level insights to strengthen their roles.We present a national-level case study of the Liberian Community Health Assistant programme as an exemplar case of successfully introducing a nationwide CHW policy that professionalises CHWs. Using a theory of how power is exercised (Steven Lukes) for our analysis, we argue that Liberia's success in overcoming external funder push-back on

SUBMITTER: Neumann A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11667280 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature