Powerful and Proven: Community Health Workers Can Build Health and Equity During Pandemic & Beyond

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- New Orb Media reporting and data analysis of child mortality rates in 160 countries reveals the versatile and affordable role community health workers (CHWs) play in improving community health.

New global model highlights surprising alternatives
Orb Media's new statistical model compares a country's actual child mortality rate vs. its "expected" rate, based on financial and health infrastructure factors.

By examining the practices of outlier countries, Orb identified the global role that CHWs can play in making a more equitable and healthful society.

CHWs an underappreciated health support
CHWs are people from local communities who are enlisted by peers, the government, nonprofits, and/or NGOs to provide vital health services to those who might otherwise go without. In a short period of time, they can be mobilized to meet many of their community's most pressing needs and are extremely effective at reaching underserved populations.

• Flexible deployment in the face of COVID-19
  Orb Media's research shows CHWs are adaptable and adept at providing both mental health services and behavioral support, calling for a global conversation of how they might be best deployed today to effectively manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Vital health services to underserved populations
  CHWs' key advantage is that they come from the communities which they serve, with unparalleled ability to understand the challenges faced by their patients. They are equipped to both contextually listen and educate the people they serve in ways that are beyond the grasp of well-credentialed outsiders.

These programs present an opportunity to deploy and continually improve service to underserved populations, such as immigrant and migrant communities, in countries whose formal healthcare systems still present a gap in care.

Review the full report at Orbmedia.org.

Orb Media is pleased to publish this story alongside members of the Orb Media Network, a group of global agenda-setting media who together reach hundreds of millions of people around the world and includes BBC, CBC, Die Zeit, SVT, Tempo.co, YLE, Dhaka Tribune, Folha de S.Paulo, The Hindu, Jagran New Media, The Express Tribune and others.

About Orb Media
Orb Media unearths global insights on how our world can forge a more sustainable future. We use journalistic craft, data analysis and networks to transform global, long-term issues of social and environmental sustainability into locally actionable information.