Peruvian community women empowered to reduce anemia in children under five

Background: Catholic Medical Mission Board and the Sisters of Bon Secours have collaborated to empower underprivileged and marginalized women as community health workers (CHWs) 3 Peruvian towns. The three-year partnership aimed to improve health of women and their communities through training on 16 key health practices aimed to reduce death and disability from childhood illness. Special attention was paid to nutrition and water and hygiene issues. This research examines their effectiveness. Methods: CMMB Peru conducted semi-structured interviews and surveys among CHWs to assess their achievements. Forty interviews were used to define CHWs personal experiences, with focus on knowledge and skills training and personal development. A random survey with 37 beneficiaries who received CHWs visits answered a client satisfaction questionnaire. This data was triangulated with project anemia data and other health indicators to assess health outcomes for children in the program. Results: In 30 months, 40 CHWs provided iron supplementation to children under-five identified with anemia. Their work reduced anemia by over 50% in Chimbote (52% - 16%), Huancayo (84.7% - 41.2%), and almost half in Trujillo (57.4% - 33.9%). 94% of beneficiaries surveyed reported trust in the CHW guide in community health topics. 92.5% of beneficiaries have improved hand washing skills thanks to CHWs. More than half of CHW had improved their reported self esteem and leadership skills. Conclusions: Empowerment of CHWs was found to be a tool to improve health conditions in communities among children under five and CHWs themselves.