The Role of Technology in Supporting the Education of Community Health Workers and their Leaders

Community health workers (CHWs) often represent the first point of contact for many individuals in low-income countries accessing health services. Unfortunately, due to the low quality of care, outcomes for many people are unpredictable. Although the causes for poor quality of care are multifaceted, one obvious cause is that many CHWs are undertrained. Given the scope of the problem and the lack of resources available to solve it, governments and donor organizations are looking at digital technologies to help address problems such as access to services, health worker training, and decision-making. Access to and understanding of educational content can be improved by combining classroom education with distance learning to create a blended learning approach. Furthermore, by integrating the educational experience offered to CHWs through technology with related support services such as data collection, logistics management and AI-based decision support, governments can compensate for the quality of care gap.