Applying the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach to Community Health Worker Job Satisfaction: Local and Global Perspectives

Authors

Wendy R. Thal, Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterFollow
Rosalinda Jimenez, Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterFollow

Abstract

Community Health Workers (CHW) have been a continuing presence in the world health care arena for several decades. While the work they do is diverse, all abide by local social and cultural “norms” and are stakeholders within the population they serve. [1] While much literature is available on the importance of community health workers in the provision of care in regions with limited access to health care, there is little known on what inspires someone to engage in the role. The World Health Organization purports that building value for these lay health care providers within their community via training, support, and recognition is critical to the success of any program. An inter-professional team from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas works with community health workers in both an urban medically underserved area in our city and in a rural medically underserved area in Nicaragua. The purpose of the quality improvement project was to explore traits and characteristics that motivate community health workers to provide services in these medically underserved regions in Nicaragua and west Texas. Knowledge about motivation can assist community health worker programs to tailor processes to promote better hiring, retention, training, and improved job satisfaction, leading to a higher quality of patient care.

Funder

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

DOI

10.18297/rgh/vol2/iss2/12

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Thal, Wendy R. and Jimenez, Rosalinda (2019) "Applying the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach to Community Health Worker Job Satisfaction: Local and Global Perspectives," Journal of Refugee & Global Health: Vol. 2 : Iss. 2 , Article 12.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/rgh/vol2/iss2/12
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/rgh/vol2/iss2/12