Partnership and Dignity: a Mixed-methods Survey on Supporting and Retaining Uganda's Village Health Teams

June 15, 2016 updated by: George Washington University
For more than a decade, Uganda's Ministry of Health has led a community health worker program model in which Village Health Teams (VHTs), cadres of unpaid volunteers, are assigned the task of delivering preventative health services and education to their local communities. Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of Uganda's VHTs in improving certain health outcomes; however it is known that VHTs are not optimally supported, and there has been VHT attrition in recent years. The Ministry of Health has recognized the inadequate support of VHTs thus far and is aiming to "expand VHTs to all local governments and explore ways of sustaining VHTs." The objective of this study is to evaluate the extent to which material support is a deciding factor in the efficiency and durability of Uganda's VHT initiative. Material support may take the form of monetary stipends, regular payment, transportation assistance, or nonfinancial materials such as bicycles or mobile phone airtime. This study will review existing literature and gather novel data through surveys of VHT members and VHT stakeholders. The quantitative and qualitative survey data will be analyzed for trends that may point to a conclusion in the context of existing health policy discourse on community health worker remuneration. The purpose of this study is to strengthen the knowledge base on whether or not the current absence of material support significantly limits the potential for Uganda's VHTs to be sustained and expanded. This information can be used by governmental and non-governmental organizations in their work to strengthen and sustain VHTs throughout the country.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

143

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • District of Columbia
      • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20037
        • The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population will consist of at least 200 individual working VHT members, and at least 10 stakeholders, that is, program managers, administrators, district health officers, and policymakers. Almost all study subjects will be of Ugandan nationality. Some stakeholders may be expatriates.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

VHT subjects must have been actively working as a VHT member for at least 6 months. Stakeholders, that is, program managers, health administrators and policy makers, must be involved in managing, administrating, or guiding policy for VHT programs as part of their official job description. These persons must also have been acting in those roles for at least 6 months. All study subjects will be 18 years of age or older. All study subjects will be literate and able to be informed to give or withhold consent of participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

There will be no exclusion or inclusion based on gender, race, tribal or ethnic affiliation, religion, or health status.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Predicted longevity related to support sufficiency
Time Frame: Up to 5 months
This outcome will be measured by asking VHTs to rate aspects of their current support. We will follow up those questions by asking how long they expect to be able to continue in their position as VHTs. The two results will be evaluated for possible trends connecting sufficiency of existing support with predicted longevity.
Up to 5 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Predicted longevity of minimum 10 years if current support does not increase
Time Frame: Up to 5 months
This outcome will be measured by asking the VHTs if they predict being able to continue in their positions for at least 10 more years if their current support does not increase.
Up to 5 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

George Washington University

Collaborators

Makerere University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: William S Schroth, MD MPH, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 4, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 24, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

March 2, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 16, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 15, 2016

Last Verified

August 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • VHT_041406

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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