The gendered experience of close-to-community providers in fragile and shock-prone settings: implications for policy and practice during and post COVID-19

Partners: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, HERD International, American University of Beirut, Burnet Institute Myanmar and COMAHS

COVID-19 has markedly affected our study settings of Lebanon, Nepal, Myanmar and Sierra Leone. Close-to-community (CTC) providers were part of the response to the pandemic and other shocks in these settings. However, there are evidence gaps, including how policy and practice (eg support structures) adapted to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the CTC providers’ experiences during the pandemic and how these are gendered.

This study explored the roles of CTC health care providers and their gendered experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic fragile settings. We conducted document reviews, interviews with CTC providers and key informants in Lebanon, Nepal, Myanmar and Sierra Leone.

This study contributes evidence on gender equitable approaches to supporting CTC providers in fragile and shock-prone contexts to fulfil their vital roles in the COVID-19 response and future disease outbreaks and shocks. It has resulted in a follow-on study involving health workers in Lebanon and Nepal – more on that study here.

Outputs

Project summary/overview

• Read this multi-context analysis paper: Gendered Experience of Close to Community Providers during COVID-19 Response in Settings: A Multi-Country Analysis
• Read a global document review on this project: Gendered experience of close-to-community providers in fragile and shock-prone settings
• Watch and read a presentation based on this work:  The comparative agility of the community health worker cadre in fragile & conflict-affected contexts.
• Read the study poster: presented at HSR2022
• Case study: how this research is impacting on policy and practice

Myanmar strand

• Read the full Myanmar report: Gendered experiences of close-to-community providers

Sierra Leone strand

• Read a paper on the Sierra Leone strand of this work: From policy to practice: a qualitive study exploring the role of community health workers during the COVID-19 response in Sierra Leone
• Read a brief on our work in Sierra Leone: The gendered experience of close-to-community providers in Sierra Leone
• Read the full Sierra Leone report: Gendered experience of Sierra Leone’s close-to-community providers during COVID-19: a study report
• Watch and read a presentation on the Sierra Leone strand of this work: watch the video here
• Read a case study: using knowledge translation to advance gender equity through the community health worker program in Sierra Leone

Lebanon & Nepal strands

• Watch a presentation on this topic at Health Systems Research 2024: Health workforce preparedness and health sector responses during COVID-19 in Nepal
• Read a paper on the Lebanon strand of this work: Refugee women in the informal health sector in Lebanon: gendered experiences of close-to-community healthcare providers during the COVID-19 response
• Read a brief of our work in Lebanon: The gendered experience of close-to-community providers in Lebanon
• Read a report of recommendations from our work in Lebanon: Recommendations for supervisors of female health workers
• Watch a presentation on the Lebanese part of this study:  including testimonies from some of the women involved (NB parts are in Arabic)
• Watch presentations based on the Lebanon & Nepal strands of this work: Close-to-community providers, gender and COVID-19 webinar