Community Health Worker Training Curriculum
This curriculum is designed to train newly recruited community health workers (CHWs) in the basic knowledge and skills needed to provide HIV services within the health facility, including case identification, linkage to care, treatment adherence and retention. In order to provide a well-rounded and comprehensive foundation, the training has supplementary units focused on HIV-related topics including PMTCT, psychosocial support, opportunistic infections, tuberculosis and HIV, nutrition and family planning.
The Training Curriculum Design
Participant’s ManualThe Participant’s Manual is the reference textbook for participants, giving more detail and further explanation to the topics covered in the Slide Set. The training is designed so that participants read the unit before it is covered in the training. In this way, participants are prepared for the topic and can spend the majority of the session with the trainer clarifying details and practicing what they’ve learned. There is a summary of the key points as outlined by the objectives, followed by prompts for training activities and review questions at the end of each unit. The Manual is also available in Chichewa.
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Slide SetThe Slide Set PowerPoint Presentation should be used during the didactic training as a visual cue for both the trainer and participants to highlight key information and give instructions for activities. Trainers can adapt the slides in each of the units to include more or less information depending on the knowledge level of the participants. Since the Trainer’s Manual follows the Slide Set, trainers can also add notes and/or activities straight into the Manual.
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Facilitator's GuideThe Facilitator's Guide consists of a summary page describing the duration, objectives, key topics, activities, list of materials and preparation checklist needed to teach each unit. This is followed by a copy of the Slide Set containing additional facilitator notes and instructions for activities.
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Tingathe's Community Health Worker Model
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Each of the Tingathe-supported health facilities has a team of CHWs focused on providing facility and home-based support to HIV-infected patients and their families. CHWs are recruited from the community and are HIV-infected or -affected. CHW teams are led by a Site Supervisor and report directly to the Community and HTC Program Officer (CHPO) member of the Tingathe mentorship team. Coordinating with the Ministry of Health staff at the ART clinic, CHWs address gaps in service delivery and strive to give each patient the time and support needed for treatment adherence. More information on how CHWs are recruited, selected, trained, supervised and remunerated can be found here.
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Home and Facility-Based Support
CHWs visit patients at their homes to promote adherence and provide in-depth counseling. They provide HIV education through daily health talks and advocate for patients during ART refill appointments. |
PMTCT and EID Services
CHWs are paired with a mother during pregnancy to ensure comprehensive counseling throughout the PMTCT cascade and access to all available services. They follow the mother-infant pair throughout pregnancy, birth and infancy until baby’s final HIV diagnosis at two years old. |
Retention in Care
CHWs track and trace patients with missing appointments. They provide enhanced adherence counseling and ensure viral loads are taken, interpreted and acted upon appropriately. |
