Frontline health workers and pandemic prevention and control (search up to March 2020)
Citation: Bhaumik S, Moola S, Tyagi J, et al. Frontline health workers in COVID-19 prevention and control: rapid evidence synthesis. The George Institute for Global Health, India. Published online 23 March 2020.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: World Health Organization (WHO), Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.
What is this? Information on the role of frontline health workers (called community health workers in many countries) in pandemics might help policymakers planning for pandemics such as COVID-19.
In this rapid evidence synthesis, the authors searched for evidence on the role of, issues and challenges for frontline health workers in pandemics. They did their search on 21 March 2020, including websites of governments, multinational agencies and COVID-19 resource aggregators to identify guidelines and resources to support planning. They included 36 studies.
What was found: Frontline health workers are at increased risk of contracting a pandemic infectious disease, such as COVID-19.
Frontline health workers have an important role in creating awareness and countering stigma.
During a pandemic, routine service delivery is likely to be adversely affected by disruption in supply chains, logistics and supportive supervision.
Frontline health workers might experience stigmatization, isolation and be socially ostracized.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that frontline health workers should be provided with personal protective equipment to protect them from pandemic infectious disease and be given training in its use, and that they should be offered psychosocial support, non-performance-based incentives, additional transport allowance and child-support, and awards and recognition programs. They also concluded that Policy makers should devise guidelines and training for frontline health workers for prioritizing essential activities and postponing non-essential ones.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, occupation, education and social capital.
This summary was prepared by Yasmeen Saeed, edited by Jane McHugh and finalized by Mike Clarke.
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