Challenges faced by accredited social health activist workers in delivering health-care services during COVID-19 lockdowns: A qualitative study

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of life. Health-care workers and health-care delivery were affected the most. Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers are the backbone of health-care system in India as they are involved in grass root level activities. They have been at the forefront of India's emergency health response system. Lockdowns disrupted day-to-day activities, and delivery of health-care services became a huge challenge. Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the challenges faced by ASHA workers while delivering health-care services during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Subjects and Methods: A qualitative study in the form of focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out among the ASHA workers of urban and rural field practice areas. Two FGDs-one each in urban and rural area were conducted. Discussions were about 50–60 min. Results: The collected data were analyzed by translation and transcription. The transcripted data was divided into topics and subtopics using NVivo version 12. Topics were fear and social stigma, job-related concerns, difficulties in the community, issues in reaching the center, and financial worries. Conclusion: The present study found that the paucity of transport, workload, late payment, and overtime are the biggest hindrances and challenges for ASHA workers in carrying out their work efficiently. Challenges faced by ASHA workers can be solved within the existing framework of the health-care system. However, addressing the issues they have faced will help combat future epidemics and pandemics.

Keywords

• accredited social health activist workers
• challenges
• covid-19
• focus group discussion
• lockdown