Recruiting and training Community Health Volunteers is not a new concept. Health programs have utilized CHVs to carry out a variety of health promotion, case management, and service delivery activities at the community level for several decades. CHVs can serve as a bridge between professional health staff and the community and help communities identify and address their own health needs. They can provide health system managers with information that may otherwise never reach them and can encourage those in the health system to understand and respond to community needs. CHVs can help mobilize community resources, act as advocates for the community, and build local capacity. The key, however, is keeping the CHVs motivated. The following publications and resources address the issues of motivating volunteers in the context of successful programs in the developing world.

Publications and other reference materials

Getting to the Roots - Mobilizing community volunteers to combat Vitamin A Deficiency Disorders in Nepal. This paper tells the story of the Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) in Nepal who unknowingly brought about a global best practice. UNICEF/Nepal. PDF file

Community Health Worker Incentives and Disincentives - How They Affect Motivation, Retention, and Sustainability. This paper examines the experience with using various incentives to motivate and retain community health workers (CHWs) serving primarily as volunteers in child health and nutrition programs in developing countries. BASICS II. USAID. PDF file

Nepal Child Survival Case Study, Technical Report. This report reviews the processes and events that influenced expansion of the programs and achievement of results in several technical areas, including pneumonia treatment, control of diarrhea diseases, vitamin A supplementation, immunization, malaria control, and family planning. BASICS II, MOST, USAID. PDF file

From "Health for All" to "Health with All" in Nepal - Through Empowered Civil Society as Rights and Responsibilities of All Humanity. Harvard School of Public Health, Takemi Program in International Health, 2000-2001. PDF file

IMCI Workshop Proceedings - Reaching Communities for Child Health. The IMCI framework establishes a multisectoral platform for community health workers, acknowledging that many sectors contribute to health and recognizing diverse community priorities. BASICS, CORE, USAID. PDF file

Empowered Women Save Children's Lives - A Report from Nepal's National Vitamin A Program. This publication tells the story of how a program utilized female community health volunteers to save children's lives. Tufts University. PDF file

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