More work for ASHAs? Exploring the role of whatsapp messaging and community health work in urban slum areas of Varanasi, India.

ABSTRACT: India's community health workers (CHWs) have taken on an onerous set of responsibilities for the welfare of their clients across a variety of health domains, including providing modern contraception for family planning, promoting childhood vaccinations, and enhancing pregnant women's nutritional outcomes. Governments have also added technology to this mix under the assumption that new digital tools can relieve the work burdens. Through interviews with 22 CHWs, this study found that, besides offering health services for the community, CHWs report an expanding workload that includes several government initiatives. While beneficial in some ways, digital technologies have also introduced new administrative burdens for CHWs, who must manage recordkeeping across incompatible systems. Our finding

SUBMITTER: Jamison A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12527129 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature