Selective review of work aids for alternative health care providers in developing countries

Cheri Grace, John James, Yasmin Hadi with Zelee Hill, for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, July 2008

The scarcity of human resources for health, and the slow progress towards MDG4, are resulting in renewed interest in the potential of alternative health care providers to contribute to the MDG targets, and in mechanisms to help these workers overcome constraints within their jobs.

One way to enable their enhanced contribution is through work aids: “tangible items that help alternative providers plan and execute their work, used on an ongoing basis to direct, improve or facilitate the performance of a task, with the aim of allowing the provider to perform at an increased skill or effectiveness level”.

This review presents a typology of work aids used to facilitate the work of alternative providers of maternal, neonatal and child health services in developing countries. It also reviews and analyses programme and research experiences with these aids.