Strategies to Improve the Performance of Community Health Volunteers for Tuberculosis Care and Prevention: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Community health volunteers contributed to the total Tuberculosis (TB) case findings;however, the attrition rate of these volunteers was high which reduces their optimal performance.Hence, sustainability of efforts should be explored to retain the community health volunteers in the TBprogram. Improvement of community health volunteers to perform community-based health educationand prevent TB has not been examined consistently around the globe, including Indonesia. This studyaimed to explore the strategies to improve performance of community health volunteers for TB careand prevention to reduce the incidence and stop the spread of TB in the community.Methods: A qualitative design was adopted and we used two focus group discussions in 2017 to collectthe data. The participants included village health workers as volunteers in two regencies of BandungCity, West Java Indonesia. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.Results: Four major themes should be considered in developing a community-based TB healtheducation program: (1) informing community health volunteers about the benefits and difficulties ofbeing a TB volunteer; (2) recognizing the activities and feelings of volunteers; (3) emphasizing theWillingness to Help Others; and (4) having access to TB training.Conclusion: To develop a community-based health education program for TB care and prevention,community nurses need to listen to the opinions of community health volunteers, and TB patients andtheir family members to ensure that the health education program is tailored to meet community needs.

Keywords

• community health education
• tuberculosis
• village health workers