Understanding the performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of health programmes in underserved areas: A realist synthesis

Abstract

Background: The recruitment of community health volunteers (CHVs) to support the delivery of health programmes is an established approach in underserved areas and in particular where there are health inequalities due to the scarcity of trained human resources. However, there is a dearth of evidence about what works to improve CHVs' performance. This review aimed to synthesise existing literature to explain why, how and under which circumstances intervention approaches to improve the performance of CHVs are more likely to be successful. Methods: We performed a realist synthesis. We identified candidate theories related to our review questions, which then guided the selection, appraisal and an..