scholarly journals Barriers and facilitators to growth monitoring and promotion in Nepal: Household, health worker and female community health volunteer perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeline M. Pollifrone ◽  
Kenda Cunningham ◽  
Pooja Pandey Rana ◽  
Morgan M. Philbin ◽  
Shraddha Manandhar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Growth Monitoring ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer ◽  
Growth Monitoring And Promotion

The female community health volunteer programme in Nepal: Decision makers’ perceptions of volunteerism, payment and other incentives

2010 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 1920-1927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Glenton ◽  
Inger B. Scheel ◽  
Sabina Pradhan ◽  
Simon Lewin ◽  
Stephen Hodgins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer

scholarly journals Effectiveness of a Female Community Health Volunteer–Delivered Intervention in Reducing Blood Glucose Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e2035799
Author(s):  
Bishal Gyawali ◽  
Rajan Sharma ◽  
Shiva Raj Mishra ◽  
Dinesh Neupane ◽  
Abhinav Vaidya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Blood Glucose ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer

scholarly journals Evaluating the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Mobile Health–Based Female Community Health Volunteer Program for Hypertension Control in Rural Nepal: Cross-Sectional Study

10.2196/15419 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e15419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Ni ◽  
Namratha Atluri ◽  
Ryan J Shaw ◽  
Jingru Tan ◽  
Kinza Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Community Health Volunteers ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community Health Volunteers ◽  
Rural Nepal

Background Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading cause of death. The prevalence of hypertension is disproportionately higher in South Asian countries than in other regions of the world. Screening for hypertension in primary care settings remains a challenge in many South Asian countries, including Nepal. Nepal is located in the Himalayan Mountains region, posing significant geographical challenges for its rural citizens to access primary health care and service delivery. This barrier increases the costs and inconvenience for rural Nepalis to access hypertension screening and treatment. As a result, the prevalence of hypertension in Nepal tripled in the last 25 years to 22.4%-38.6%. Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population relies on female community health volunteers to link health centers and communities to provide basic health services. Over 50,000 of these volunteers in Nepal have received basic health care training and are assigned to take care of maternal and child health. Due to limited health care resources, adopting new methods to control hypertension is an urgent need in Nepal. Several recent studies in Nepal have recommended extending the role of female community health volunteers to include hypertension management through blood pressure monitoring and home-based education. Objective The goal of this study was to assess if a mobile health–based female community health volunteer approach of combining the traditional community health volunteer program with digital technologies would be feasible and acceptable in rural Nepal. Methods In this study, we recruited 17 female community health volunteers and extended their role from maternal and child health to hypertension management through screening blood pressures. Results All 17 female community health volunteers successfully measured 1113 rural Nepalis’ blood pressures, identified 169 hypertensive patients, and collected health behaviors data of the 169 hypertensive patients. Among the 169 patients, 70% of them had a mobile phone, and 92% were interested in receiving health-related information via a mobile phone. Among those who were interested in receiving information via a mobile phone, 84% preferred voice calls, and 7% and 1% preferred texting and apps, respectively. Conclusions Results from this study indicate that a digital health intervention that leverages feature-phones combined with female community health volunteers may be an acceptable and pragmatic way to implement an evidence-based program to reduce hypertension in rural Nepal.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Mobile Health–Based Female Community Health Volunteer Program for Hypertension Control in Rural Nepal: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Ni ◽  
Namratha Atluri ◽  
Ryan J Shaw ◽  
Jingru Tan ◽  
Kinza Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Community Health Volunteers ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community Health Volunteers ◽  
Rural Nepal

BACKGROUND Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading cause of death. The prevalence of hypertension is disproportionately higher in South Asian countries than in other regions of the world. Screening for hypertension in primary care settings remains a challenge in many South Asian countries, including Nepal. Nepal is located in the Himalayan Mountains region, posing significant geographical challenges for its rural citizens to access primary health care and service delivery. This barrier increases the costs and inconvenience for rural Nepalis to access hypertension screening and treatment. As a result, the prevalence of hypertension in Nepal tripled in the last 25 years to 22.4%-38.6%. Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population relies on female community health volunteers to link health centers and communities to provide basic health services. Over 50,000 of these volunteers in Nepal have received basic health care training and are assigned to take care of maternal and child health. Due to limited health care resources, adopting new methods to control hypertension is an urgent need in Nepal. Several recent studies in Nepal have recommended extending the role of female community health volunteers to include hypertension management through blood pressure monitoring and home-based education. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess if a mobile health–based female community health volunteer approach of combining the traditional community health volunteer program with digital technologies would be feasible and acceptable in rural Nepa METHODS In this study, we recruited 17 female community health volunteers and extended their role from maternal and child health to hypertension management through screening blood pressures. RESULTS All 17 female community health volunteers successfully measured 1113 rural Nepalis’ blood pressures, identified 169 hypertensive patients, and collected health behaviors data of the 169 hypertensive patients. Among the 169 patients, 70% of them had a mobile phone, and 92% were interested in receiving health-related information via a mobile phone. Among those who were interested in receiving information via a mobile phone, 84% preferred voice calls, and 7% and 1% preferred texting and apps, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Results from this study indicate that a digital health intervention that leverages feature-phones combined with female community health volunteers may be an acceptable and pragmatic way to implement an evidence-based program to reduce hypertension in rural Nepal.

scholarly journals Strengthening Nepal’s Female Community Health Volunteer network: a qualitative study of experiences at two years

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Schwarz ◽  
Ranju Sharma ◽  
Chhitij Bashyal ◽  
Ryan Schwarz ◽  
Ashma Baruwal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Volunteer ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Community Health Volunteer
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