Community health workers awareness and attitude toward prevention and control of noncommunicable disease, eastern Nepal

ABSTRACT Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a major emerging public health problem and a leading cause of death around the world. Community health workers (CHWs) provide preventive and promotive services and deliver NCD-specific programs. Objectives: The objective is to assess the awareness and attitude toward the prevention and control of NCDs among CHWs in Nepal. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 CHWs working in health facilities from eight municipalities of the Morang District. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 CHWs from each municipality. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed to test the association of the level of awareness with demographic variables. A P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: The results showed that 77.8% of respondents were involved in managing NCDs and 71.6% faced challenges. Likewise, more than one-fourth (26.2%) of respondents had a low level of awareness, and all had positive attitudes toward preventing and controlling NCDs. Furthermore, there was a correlation between awareness and attitude ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: We found a low level of awareness among CHWs; almost all the respondents have a positive attitude toward preventing and controlling NCDs. This indicates the need for refresher training for CHWs. Capacity building of CHWs through training and regular monitoring and supervision can contribute to preventing and controlling NCDs. The study’s findings would add valuable information to design appropriate measures to increase awareness and cultivate positive attitudes of CHWs in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMCIs). This study’s findings have policy implications for integrating CHWs into the primary healthcare system.