Community Health Educators and Maternal Health: Experimental Evidence from Northern Nigeria
通过随机对照试验评估了尼日利亚北部的社区健康工作者项目，发现部署健康教育者、提供安全分娩包和社区戏剧能提高产前、产后和婴儿护理的使用率，并改善健康知识和实践。
The slow pace of improvement in service delivery and health outcomes for pregnant women and newborns in developing countries has been a major concern for policy makers in recent decades. This paper presents the results from a randomized controlled trial of a community health worker program designed to enhance uptake of child and maternal health services in Northern Nigeria. Three interventions were evaluated: the deployment of community health educators, health educators with the provision of safe birth kits, and health educators with community dramas. The results suggest that the interventions increased utilization of antenatal, postnatal, and infant care. Maternal and newborn health practices improved as well as health knowledge. In addition, the community health worker program was more effective when supplemented with additional program components.