Gender issues an obstacle for female community health workers

Female Community Health Workers face gender-based challenges that limit their performance, a report has revealed.

A report by the African Population and Health Research Centre released last month posits that despite 70 per cent of CHWs globally being female, most are unable to effective discharge their duties at the community level.

“Female CHWs face many demands on their time and have to balance their household and family responsibilities along with their CHW work and other income-generating activities,” part the report reads.

The document which was conducted in Kenya and Uganda between 2016 and 2020 also talked about safety concerns for the female CHWs who are considered more vulnerable to harm dealing with their clients.

“The work of a CHW often requires women to travel alone and at night, particularly in the case of health emergencies. In addition, CHWs often have to deal with difficult or aggressive patients. Unfortunately, during programming, these aspects are often not considered carefully,” the report notes.

Apart from the constraints while at work, female CHWs often face challenges with balancing gender roles and responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and childcare.

From the report, this is usually a problem depending on the expectations of their husbands with their volunteer or income-generating work. In contexts where the husband maintains strong control and decision-making power at the household level, they can also be a limiting factor for a CHW’s work

“Some husbands support their wives and even pay for purchases of some of the items they need for their work, selling or providing information and medicines to patients when the CHW is not home or escorting women at night to visit patients, and helping to manage the home,” the report reads.

The team asked organisations working with CHWs to appropriately engage husbands by communicating directly to inform and educate them on the role of CHWs and their importance in community health, while also acknowledging and recognising the opportunities to play a supportive role.

“Promote CHW safety by encouraging support from husbands when they need to accompany female CHWs to attend to a patient at night. Another strategy is to pair them together or with a male counterpart,” the report notes. 

It recommends that governments and organisations that work with CHWs should promote gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by ensuring appropriate remuneration for their time.

This measure, it said, will support CHWs work-life balance and enable them to be more efficient and motivated. Further, it is important to create and support opportunities for income generation, such as selling health products.

The document says it is also essential to facilitate CHWs’ transport needs such as allowances or access to bicycles or motorcycles where appropriate.

“Provide sufficient non-financial and financial incentives by creating opportunities for income generation, facilitating access to loans and savings platforms, appropriate remuneration, and monetary compensation for attending events like monthly meetings,” the researchers recommended.

Edited by R.Wamochie