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Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the collapse of the Peruvian health system, disrupting healthcare access for indigenous communities in the Amazon. Our study analysed how community health workers (CHWs) from indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the...

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Autores principales: Samsamshariat, Tina, Madhivanan, Purnima, Reyes Fernández Prada, Alexandra, Moya, Eva M, Meza, Graciela, Reinders, Stefan, Blas, Magaly M
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10583076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37832965
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012727
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author Samsamshariat, Tina
Madhivanan, Purnima
Reyes Fernández Prada, Alexandra
Moya, Eva M
Meza, Graciela
Reinders, Stefan
Blas, Magaly M
author_facet Samsamshariat, Tina
Madhivanan, Purnima
Reyes Fernández Prada, Alexandra
Moya, Eva M
Meza, Graciela
Reinders, Stefan
Blas, Magaly M
author_sort Samsamshariat, Tina
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the collapse of the Peruvian health system, disrupting healthcare access for indigenous communities in the Amazon. Our study analysed how community health workers (CHWs) from indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Fourteen CHWs from Loreto, Peru, participated in a community-based participatory research project using Photovoice, a technique encouraging vulnerable groups to take photos and develop stories illustrating their lived experiences. Participants were recruited from Mamás del Río, a local university-based programme, through purposive sampling. CHWs were asked to photograph how the pandemic affected their lives and work. Participants met four times over 5 months to share photos and develop action items. Data were organised into key themes using thematic analysis. CHWs shared photo galleries with policy-makers in Loreto and Lima. RESULTS: CHWs produced 36 photos with 33 texts highlighting their roles during COVID-19. Three core themes emerged: the (1) collapse of health infrastructure, (2) use of medicinal plants versus pharmaceuticals and (3) community adaptations and struggles. The leadership of CHWs emerged as a cross-cutting theme as CHWs supported COVID-19 efforts without government training or resources. CHWs asked policy-makers for formal integration into the health system, standardisation of training and management of community pharmacies. CONCLUSION: CHWs demonstrated their leadership and expanded their roles during the pandemic with little to no training from the government. Global investment in robust CHW programmes can fortify healthcare delivery.
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spelling pubmed-105830762023-10-19 Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research Samsamshariat, Tina Madhivanan, Purnima Reyes Fernández Prada, Alexandra Moya, Eva M Meza, Graciela Reinders, Stefan Blas, Magaly M BMJ Glob Health Original Research INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the collapse of the Peruvian health system, disrupting healthcare access for indigenous communities in the Amazon. Our study analysed how community health workers (CHWs) from indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Fourteen CHWs from Loreto, Peru, participated in a community-based participatory research project using Photovoice, a technique encouraging vulnerable groups to take photos and develop stories illustrating their lived experiences. Participants were recruited from Mamás del Río, a local university-based programme, through purposive sampling. CHWs were asked to photograph how the pandemic affected their lives and work. Participants met four times over 5 months to share photos and develop action items. Data were organised into key themes using thematic analysis. CHWs shared photo galleries with policy-makers in Loreto and Lima. RESULTS: CHWs produced 36 photos with 33 texts highlighting their roles during COVID-19. Three core themes emerged: the (1) collapse of health infrastructure, (2) use of medicinal plants versus pharmaceuticals and (3) community adaptations and struggles. The leadership of CHWs emerged as a cross-cutting theme as CHWs supported COVID-19 efforts without government training or resources. CHWs asked policy-makers for formal integration into the health system, standardisation of training and management of community pharmacies. CONCLUSION: CHWs demonstrated their leadership and expanded their roles during the pandemic with little to no training from the government. Global investment in robust CHW programmes can fortify healthcare delivery. BMJ Publishing Group 2023-10-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10583076/ /pubmed/37832965 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012727 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Research
Samsamshariat, Tina
Madhivanan, Purnima
Reyes Fernández Prada, Alexandra
Moya, Eva M
Meza, Graciela
Reinders, Stefan
Blas, Magaly M
Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title_full Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title_fullStr Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title_full_unstemmed Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title_short Hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the Peruvian Amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
title_sort hear my voice: understanding how community health workers in the peruvian amazon expanded their roles to mitigate the impact of the covid-19 pandemic through community-based participatory research
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10583076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37832965
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012727
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