Web annex: WHO guideline on health policy and system support to optimize community health worker programmes

Overview

This web annex contains a tabulated summary of the evidence gathered to inform development of the WHO guideline on health policy and system support to optimize community health worker programmes. Fifteen systematic reviews were undertaken to assess the evidence on the policy questions specifically examined in the guideline. Each review considered a specific question related to the effectiveness of community health worker (CHW) programmes, and was structured according to the standard population, intervention, control, outcome (PICO) approach. For each PICO question, the summary of evidence presented below includes, as applicable:

• a. overview of included quantitative studies
• b. GRADE quality assessment
• c. Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment for cohort studies and cross-sectional studies
• d. qualitative findings
• e. evidence to decision tables.

Note: There are some variations in the way the evidence is presented in the tables for each section, due to differences in the availability, quantity and quality of the evidence, and in the approach adopted by different authors of the systematic reviews.