COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER

A community health worker is a man or woman who is respected and trusted by his or
her community. They are the first point of contact for many with the health system
and are elected by the community. They live within the community and so they know
and understand people and cultures.

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSISTANT

The main responsibilities of the CHAs are health promotion and disease prevention.
CHAs are also trained inbasic curative services that they can provide at the Health
Post and in the community. In addition, they areresponsible for identifying patients
who need referral. CHAs work alongside other trained staff (typicallynurses or
environmental health technologists) at the Health Post and at some PHC Centers.
Ideally, CHAs are supposed to be at the Health Post that is closest to thecommunities
they serve, but due to logistical challenges they can also be found at a PHC Center
which is alevel higher than a Health Post. CHAs attend one year of formalized pre-
service training based on 11 training modules covering prevention,health promotion,
and curative care through theoretical and practical training components.

COMMUNITY HEALTH VOLUNTEERS

(CHVs) are lay individuals of varied background, coming from, or based in the
communities they serve