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Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?

Background: In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), there is a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) placing strain on the facilities and human resources of healthcare systems. Prevention strategies that include lifestyle behavior counseling have become increasingly important. We pro...

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Autores principales: Watson, Estelle D., Moosa, Shabir, Janse Van Rensburg, Dina C., Schwellnus, Martin, Lambert, Estelle V., Stoutenberg, Mark
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10487434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37681815
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176675
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author Watson, Estelle D.
Moosa, Shabir
Janse Van Rensburg, Dina C.
Schwellnus, Martin
Lambert, Estelle V.
Stoutenberg, Mark
author_facet Watson, Estelle D.
Moosa, Shabir
Janse Van Rensburg, Dina C.
Schwellnus, Martin
Lambert, Estelle V.
Stoutenberg, Mark
author_sort Watson, Estelle D.
collection PubMed
description Background: In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), there is a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) placing strain on the facilities and human resources of healthcare systems. Prevention strategies that include lifestyle behavior counseling have become increasingly important. We propose a potential solution to the growing burden of NCDs through an expansion of the role for community health workers (CHWs) in prescribing and promoting physical activity in public health settings. This discussion paper provides a theoretical model for task-shifting of assessment, screening, counseling, and prescription of physical activity to CHWs. Five proposed tasks are presented within a larger model of service delivery and provide a platform for a structured, standardized, physical activity prevention strategy aimed at NCDs using CHWs as an integral part of reducing the burden of NCDs in LMICs. However, for effective implementation as part of national NCD plans, it is essential that CHWs received standardized, ongoing training and supervision on physical activity and other lifestyle behaviors to optimally impact community health in low resource settings.
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spelling pubmed-104874342023-09-09 Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation? Watson, Estelle D. Moosa, Shabir Janse Van Rensburg, Dina C. Schwellnus, Martin Lambert, Estelle V. Stoutenberg, Mark Int J Environ Res Public Health Review Background: In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), there is a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) placing strain on the facilities and human resources of healthcare systems. Prevention strategies that include lifestyle behavior counseling have become increasingly important. We propose a potential solution to the growing burden of NCDs through an expansion of the role for community health workers (CHWs) in prescribing and promoting physical activity in public health settings. This discussion paper provides a theoretical model for task-shifting of assessment, screening, counseling, and prescription of physical activity to CHWs. Five proposed tasks are presented within a larger model of service delivery and provide a platform for a structured, standardized, physical activity prevention strategy aimed at NCDs using CHWs as an integral part of reducing the burden of NCDs in LMICs. However, for effective implementation as part of national NCD plans, it is essential that CHWs received standardized, ongoing training and supervision on physical activity and other lifestyle behaviors to optimally impact community health in low resource settings. MDPI 2023-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10487434/ /pubmed/37681815 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176675 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Watson, Estelle D.
Moosa, Shabir
Janse Van Rensburg, Dina C.
Schwellnus, Martin
Lambert, Estelle V.
Stoutenberg, Mark
Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title_full Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title_fullStr Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title_full_unstemmed Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title_short Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?
title_sort task-shifting: can community health workers be part of the solution to an inactive nation?
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10487434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37681815
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176675
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